THE SKYLABK. 311 



times, after descending about half way, he ceases to sing, and 

 drops with the velocity of an arrow to the ground. Those ac- 

 quainted with the song of the Skylark, can tell, without looking 

 at them, whether the birds be ascending or stationary in the air, 

 or on their descent ; so different is the style, of the song in each 

 case. In the first, there is an expression of ardent impatience ; 

 in the second, an andante composure, in which rests of a bar at a 

 time frequently occur ; and hi the last, a graduated sinking of 

 the strains, often touching the subdominant before the final 

 close. The time and number of the notes often correspond with 

 the vibration of the wings ; and though they sometimes sing 

 while on the ground, as they are seen to do in cages, their whole 

 frame seems to be agitated by their musical efforts." 



The strong attachment of this species to their young has been 

 the subject of remark by many naturalists ; ME. BLYTH records, 

 that " some mowers actually shaved off the upper part of a nest 

 of the Skylark without injuring the female, which was sitting on 

 her young ; still she did not fly away, and the mowers levelled 

 the grass all around her, without her taking further notice of 

 their proceedings. A young friend of mine, son of the owner of 

 the crop, witnessed this ; and about an hour afterwards went to 

 see if she was safe, when, to his great surprise, he found that she 

 had actually constructed a dome of dry grass over the nest during 

 the interval, leaving an aperture on one side for ingress and 

 egress, thus endeavouring to secure a continuance of the shelter 

 previously supplied by the long grass." Two or three instances 

 are recorded of the Skylark moving its eggs under the fear of 

 impending danger ; and ME. JESSE, in the lourth edition of his 

 Gleanings, speaks of the attempted removal of a young bird of 

 this species to a place of safety by its parent, which, however, 

 had not sufficient strength for the purpose, but was obliged to 

 drop the fledgeling from a height of about thirty feet, so that it 

 was killed by the fall. 



YABEELL observes, that " Skylarks constantly dust themselves, 

 appearing to take great pleasure in the operation, shuffling and 

 rubbing themselves along the ground, setting up their feathers, 

 and, by a peculiar action of the legs and wings, throwing the 

 smaller and looser portion of the soil over every part of their 

 bodies. This is supposed to be done in order to rid themselves 

 of small parasitic insects." This author also says, " that during 

 the time of producing the eggs, the female has occasionally been 

 heard to sing with a power and variety of tone equal to the voice 

 of her mate. The male Skylark, though at other tunes timid, is, 

 while the female is sitting, bold and pugnacious ; driving every 

 other bird away that ventures too near his charge, both watching 

 and feeding her with unceasing solicitude." 



