( 26A j 



NOTES ON THE BREEDING-HABITS OF THE 

 WOOD-LA KK IN DORSET. 



BY 



W. J. ASHFORD. 



During the last few years a decided increase has been notice- 

 able in the number of Wood-Larks {Lulliila avborea) breeding 

 in Dorsetshire. The heath district of the eastern portion 

 of the county, where many pairs now nest annually, is un- 

 doubtedly its headquarters ; but even here its distribution 

 is anything but general and with the exception of a few 

 scattered pairs might be described as consisting of small 

 settlements, comprising perhaps three or four pairs of birds, 

 situated a mile or more apart and linked up by single pairs ; 

 a radius of but a few miles embracing the whole breeding 

 area. 



Although a few pairs are to be found nesting here and there 

 over the heath commons of Poole and Wimborne and a 

 little further west, there are thousands of acres of apparently 

 suitable ground stretching from there to Wareham and 

 westward to Dorchester, where the Wood-Lark is almost, 

 if not quite unknown, and I have failed entirely to find 

 it in the Isle of Purbeck, many parts of which are to all 

 appearance admirably suited to its requirements. 



During all my rambles of the last twenty-five years around 

 Blandford and neighbourhood, I never met with the Wood- 

 Lark until 1920, since when, however, it has several times 

 been observed and has probably nested in at least one locality. 

 The nest is said to have been found many years ago near 

 Bradford-Abbas*, but recent investigations in that neighbour- 

 hood have proved fruitless. 



On the western side of the county a few pairs have been 

 found nesting in recent years, and there also, as I am informed, 

 they appear to be on the increase. 



As a rule the birds return to the same haunt year after year, 

 usually in February, and building operations commence in 

 March. The earliest nest I have notes of was commenced 

 during the first week of that month, and the young were 

 hatched before April, but many nests are much later and do 

 not hold eggs until the middle of April. 



I would advise anyone desirous of finding the nest of the 

 Wood-Lark to abandon any idea of watching the birds during 

 the building period, for not only is the task of keeping them 



* See Mansell Pleydell's Birds of Dorset. 



