THE WOODLARK 3 



to by poets and other writers in terms of pleasure and 

 admiration. One speaks of the 



u Wild unfrequent note of the lone Woodlark." 



And Gilbert White, the eminent naturalist of Selborne, 

 sings of the pleasures of a summer evening in the country, 

 when 



" Blended objects fail the swimming sight, 

 And all the fading landscape sinks in night, 

 While high in air and poised upon his wings 

 Unseen, the soft enamoured Woodlark sings." 



The nest is built of grass, thin fibrous roots, thin twigs, 

 and occasionally moss, with a lining of finer grass or hair. 

 Usually it is placed under some tuft of grass, or at the side 

 of a stump of a tree, and at times in the side of a bank. 

 Four or five eggs are laid, of a pale brownish- white or brown- 

 ish-yellow, spotted with greyish or reddish-brown, and per- 

 haps a few marks or lines at the larger end. The eggs have 

 been found as early as February, but are generally laid in 

 March ; they are, however, not un frequently found as late 

 as July. 



The plumage of the Woodlark is quiet and unpre- 

 tending; the beak is dark brown above and pale yellow 

 underneath ; over the eye and ear-coverts there is a streak 

 of pale yellowish-brown. The feathers on the top of 

 the head are light brown, streaked with a darker shade, form- 

 ing a crest, which the bird frequently elevates. The upper 

 part of the body is wood-brown, with streaks and patches 

 of brownish-black on the neck and back. The tail is short, 

 and is brownish-black, triangularly tipped with white, and 

 has a light brown feather on each side, and a couple of 

 pale brown ones in the centre ; the under parts are pale 

 yellowish-brown, speckled with long marks of dark brown, 



