4i8 



PERCHING BIRDS. 



their nest in the side of a tussock of rough grass. It is a simple structure, 

 lined with fine grass. The young are exposed to the attacks of ground vermin, 

 owing to their being reared upon the ground ; but they are screened from their 

 enemies by the highly protective character of their first plumage, which is 

 spotted with buff, and assimilates to the colour of dried grasses even more closely 

 than the darker tints of the adult birds. The skylark sometimes nests in very 



SKYLARK, WOODLARK, AND CRESTED LARK (§ liat. Size). 



exposed situations ; one pair having built their nest on the bank of a cricket- 

 field, immediately abutting upon a highroad. In the breeding-season it is a 

 singularly fearless bird ; and the parents of a young brood will often allow 

 a stranger to approach within a very few yards before they take wing. Waited 

 upon by their parents most sedulously, the young birds leave the nest long 

 before they are strong upon the wing ; these " pushers " being often caught 

 alive by boys, who take advantage of their feeble flight to capture them 

 when exhausted, after a short but persistent chase. In confinement the skylark 



