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THE SKYLARK. 

 (Alauda arvensis.) 



IT can raise a tuft on its head at will. A long, 

 slightly hooked claw is on the back toe. The nest is 

 placed on the ground, more rarely among corn or 

 meadow grass, but rather on fallow ground or clover 

 field, among low thick growth; it assimilates so closely 

 with its surroundings that it is difficult to discover. It 

 usually contains five eggs, which, being of a dingy, 

 grey-green speckled with a darker colour, also somewhat 

 resemble the colour of the earth. 



This Lark occurs most numerously in the northern 

 regions, and as regards its habits is one of the best 

 known and most popular of birds. It arrives in 

 Hungary early in the spring, settles down, and does not 

 allow any other bird to approach it, pecking them away 

 if possible. Its little territory often occupies only a 

 hundred paces. The different territories are contiguous, 

 and disputes between the neighbours are perpetually 

 going on. The combatants may constantly be seen, 

 darting here and there with lightning speed, flying near 

 the ground, in pursuit of one another. During the 

 pairing and brooding-time the male bird sings un- 

 weariedly, flinging his song into the air. He rises 

 towards the sky, with vibrating wings, higher and 

 higher, dropping his ever-changing trilling notes, 

 often rising to such a height that he disappears from 

 sight and the song dies away. Then suddenly he re- 

 appears, becomes silent, and drops like a stone to earth. 



In his poem " In Winter," Johann Arany says of the 

 Lark : 



