486 NEST OF THE SKYLAEK. 



so that on almost every warm day of the year on which a country walk is practicable, the 

 skylark's happy notes may be heard ringing throughout the air, long after the bird which 

 utters them has dwindled to a mere speck, hardly distinguishable from a midge floating in 

 the sunbeams. 



The natural impulse of the bird to hurl himself aloft while singing is so powerful, that 

 when kept in confinement it flings itself against the top of the cage, and would damage 

 itself severely were not a piece of green baize strained tightly as a roof, so as to take away 

 the shock of the upward spring. In a state of nature, the Skylark sometimes sings while 

 on the ground, and has been seen to sit on the top of a post, and from that point of 

 vantage to pour forth its light sparkling melody. 



Although it is by no means a familiar bird, nor does it seek the society of human 

 beings, it is marvellously indifferent to their presence, and exhibits no discomposure at the 

 close vicinity of the labourer, springing from the ground close to his feet, and singing 

 merrily as it passes by his face. When pressed by danger, it has even been known to 

 place itself under human protection. A gentleman was once riding along a road in 

 Northamptonshire, when a Skylark suddenly dropped on the pummel of his saddle, where 

 it lay with outspread wings, as if wounded to death. When the rider tried to take it up, 

 it shifted round the horse, and finally dropped under the legs of the horse, where it lay 

 cowering, evidently smitten with terror. On looking up, the rider saw a hawk hovering 

 above, evidently waiting to make its stoop, as soon as the Lark left her place of refuge. The 

 Lark presently remounted the saddle, and taking advantage of a moment when the hawk 

 shifted its position, sprang from the saddle, and shot into the hedge, where it was safe. 



The following curious instance of a Lark's intelligence I had from the lady who was 

 an eye- witness of the scene. 



A pair of Larks had built their nest in a grass field, where they hatched a brood of 

 young. Very soon after the young birds were out of the eggs, the owner of the field was 

 forced to set the mowers to work, the state of the weather forcing him to cut his grass 

 sooner than usual. As the labourers approached the nest, the parent birds seemed to take 

 alarm, and at last the mother bird laid herself flat upon the ground, with outspread wings 

 and tail, while the male bird took one of the young out of the nest, and by dint of pushing 

 and pulling, got it on its mother's back. She then flew away with her young one over 

 the fields, and soon returned for another. This time, the father took his turn to carry one 

 of the offspring, being assisted by the mother in getting it firmly on his back ; and in this 

 manner they carried off the whole brood before the mowers had reached their nest. This 

 is not a solitary instance, as I am acquainted with one more example of this ingenious 

 mode of shifting the young, when the parent-birds feared that their nest was discovered, 

 and carried the brood into some standing wheat. 



Mr. Yarrell, moreover, mentions that the Lark has been seen in the act of carrying 

 away her young in her claws, but not on her back as in the previous instance. Perhaps 

 the bird would learn the art of carriage by experience, for the poor little bird was dropped 

 from the claws of its parent, and falling from a height of nearly thirty feet, was killed by 

 the shock. It was a bird some eight or ten days old. The Lark has also been known to 

 carry away its eggs when threatened by danger, grasping them with both feet. 



The nest of the Skylark is always placed on the ground, and generally in some little 

 depression, such as the imprint of a horse's hoof, the side of a mole hill, or the old furrow 

 of a plough. It is veiy well concealed, the top of the nest being only just on a level with 

 the surface of the ground, and sometimes below it. I have known several instances where 

 the young Larks would suffer themselves to be fed by hand as they sat in their nests, but 

 the parent birds always seemed rather distressed at the intrusion into their premises. The 

 materials of which it is made are dry grasses, bents, leaves and hair, the hair being 

 generally used in the lining. It will be seen that the sober colouring of those substances 

 renders the nest so uniform in tint with the surrounding soil, that to discover it is no 

 easy matter. The eggs are four or five in number, and their colour is grey-yellow washed 

 with light brown, and speckled with brown of a darker hue. They are laid in May and 

 are hatched in about a fortnight. 



The young birds are rather precocious, and leave the nest long before they are fully 



