136 



SKY LARK. 



LAVROCK. FIELD LARK. 

 PLATE. LXXIV. FIG. I. 



Alauda arvensis, . . Pennant. Montagu. 

 Alaucla vulgaris, . . . Willughby. 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. 



