156 
SKY LARK. 
LAVROCK. FIELD LARK. 
PLATE. LXXIV.—FIG. I. 
Alauda arvensis, : : Pennant. Monrtaer. 
Alauda vulgaris, . : . WittucHsy. Ray. 
THE nest is placed in a hollow scraped in the 
ground, with or without the fortuitous shelter of a 
clod of earth or tuft of herbage. It is placed in 
various situations, and is made of grasses, and a few 
chance leaves, the coarser outside, the finer on the 
inner part. The male bird appears to bring the 
materials to the spot, where the female is engaged in 
arranging them. The young are hatched in about a 
fortnight: they do not quit the nest until fully fledged, 
but return to it to roost at night for some time after 
they have left it. 
The eggs, three, four, or five in number, vary 
much both in form and colour; some are of a greyish 
white colour, with a tinge of purple or green, and 
freckled and mottled nearly all over with a darker 
shade of grey, greyish brown, or brown; others are of 
a deep sombre hue, and in some the chief part of 
the colour is concentrated at the larger end, either 
wholly or only partially around it. They are usually 
placed with their smaller ends towards the centre. 
