PENCILLED LARK.— Oidcom pencilldtus. 



assert that they have seen the skylark singing in trees, and proved the truth of their 

 assertion by shooting the songster. 



The Woodlark is a very sweet singer, not so powerful in tune nor so various in 

 phrase as the skylark, hut so pleasing and gentle that by many persons it is preferred to 

 its more powerful relative, and even thought to rival the nightingale. Like that bird, it 

 will often sing long after the sun has set, perching npon the low branch of a tree, or 

 circling in the air and pouring forth its soft plaintive strains during the warm summer 

 evenings. This bird has the curious habit of fluttering to some tree-branch, singing 

 fitfully the while, and after uttering a few low notes it darts from the branch, launches 

 itself into the air, and rises nearly as high as the skylark, its song becoming louder in 

 proportion to the height of its ascent, and sinking as it floats downward towards the 

 ground. On account of the sweetness of the song, the Woodlark is in quite as great 

 demand as the skylark, and is caged and fed after the same fashion. 



The nest of the Woodlark is placed on the ground, and is composed of grasses, moss, 

 and hair. The eggs are generally four or five in number, and their colour is pale 

 reddish white covered with little red-brown spots. The bird builds very early, the nest 

 being begun in March and the young birds hatched in May. The Woodlark is not 

 so gregarious a bird as the skylark, being seldom seen in large flocks, the ordinary number 

 being about eight to twelve, and generally being composed of the parents and their young. 

 It is not so common as the skylark, but is by no means a rare bird in the locality which 

 it best loves. It is seldom found in the open country, preferring cultivated lands in the 

 more immediate neighbourhood of copses, woods, plantations, and thick hedges. 



The general tint of the Woodlark is rather yellower than that of the skylark, and 

 there is more red about the breast. The tail is differently coloured, the two exterior 

 feathers being light brown, with a deeper patch on the inner web, the two central 

 feathers uniform light brown, and all the others rather dark brown with a white spot at 

 the extremity. The whole of the under surface is pale yellowish brown diversified 

 on the breast by dark spots. The total length of the bird is a little more than 

 six inches. 



