THE SEY-LARE. 



355 



mother bird laid herself flat upon the ground, with outspread wings and tail, while the male 

 bird took one of the young out of the nest, and by dint of pushing and pulling, got it on its 

 mother's back. She then flew away with her young one over the fields, and soon returned for 

 another. This time, the father took his turn to carry one of the offspring, being assisted by 

 the mother in getting it firmly on his back ; and in this manner they carried off the whole 

 brood before the mowers had reached their nest. This is not a solitary instance, as I am 

 acquainted with one more example of this ingenious mode of shifting the young, when the 

 parent-birds feared that their nest was discovered, and carried the brood into some standing 

 wheat. 



WOOD-LAKK, SKY-LARK, and BONNET-LARK— Alauda arborea, ameneis, and erislata. 



Mr. Yarrell, moreover, mentions that the Lark has been seen in the act of carrying away 

 her young in her claws, but not on her back as in the previous instance. Perhaps the bird 

 would learn the art of carriage by experience, for the poor little bird was dropped from the 

 claws of its parent, and falling from a height of nearly thirty feet, was killed by the shock. 

 It was a bird some eight or ten days old. The Lark has also been known to carry away its 

 eggs when threatened by danger, grasping them with both feet. 



The nest of the Skydark is always placed on the ground, and generally in some little 

 depression, such as the imprint of a horse's hoof, the side of a mole-hill, or the old furrow 

 of a plough. It is very well concealed, the top of the nest being only just on a level with the 

 surface of the ground, and sometimes below it. I have known several instances where the 

 young Larks would suffer themselves to be fed by hand as they sat in their nests, but the 

 parent birds always seemed rather distressed at the intrusion into their premises. The 

 materials of which it is made are dry grasses, bents, leaves, and hair, the hair being generally 

 used in the lining. It will be seen that the sober coloring of those substances renders the 



