1 96 BRITISH BIRDS. 



The Lark begins its song very early in spring, 

 and is heard chiefly in the morning.* The great 

 poet of nature thus beautifully describes it as 

 the leader of the general chorus : 



"Up springs the Lark, 



" Shrill- voic'd and loud, the messenger of morn; 

 " Ere yet the shadows fly, he, mounted, sings 

 "Amid the dawning clouds, and from their haunts 

 " Calls up the tuneful nations." 



It rises in the air almost perpendicularly and by 

 successive springs, and hovers at a vast height ; 

 its descent, on the contrary, is in an oblique direc- 

 tion, unless it is threatened by birds of prey, or 

 attracted by its mate, and on these occasions it 

 drops like a stone. It makes its nest on the 

 ground, between two clods of earth, and lines it 

 with dried grass and roots; the female lays four 

 or five eggs, of a greyish brown, marked with 

 darker spots ; she generally has two broods in 

 the year, and sits only about fifteen days. As 

 soon as the young have escaped from the shell, 

 the attachment of the parent seems to increase; 

 she flutters over their heads, directs all their mo- 

 tions, and is ever ready to screen them from 

 danger. 



The Lark is diffused almost universally through- 

 out Europe: it is every where extremely prolific, 



* Shakespeare thus beautifully describes its rising: 



Lo ! hear the gentle Lark, weary of rest, 

 From his moist cabinet mounts up on high, 

 And wakes the morning, from whose silver breast 

 The sun ariseth in his majesty. 



