very sweetly, and remaining in the air 

 for some considerable time; and it will 

 occasionally sit and sing on a small bush 

 or a wall." Mr. Seebohm also says: 

 "He pours forth his song so industriously, 

 SO' continuously, and arranges his notes 

 so harmoniously that the song of few 

 birds are listened to with more pleasure. 

 The song of the Skylark is pre-eminently 

 cheerful ; and if the monotony and con- 

 tinuousness of the music reminds you of 

 that of the bagpipe, it has at least no 

 melancholy in its tone." 



Again the words of Wordsworth re- 

 garding the song of the Skylark seem 

 most appropriate : 



There is madness about thee, and joy divine 



In that song of thine; 



Lift me, guide me high and high 



To thy banqueting-plaCe in the sky. 



The Skylark is not a particularly shy 

 bird. It roosts upon the ground and very 

 rarely, if ever, perches in trees. Its 

 flight is straight, quick and powerful, 

 and it runs upon the ground with perfect 

 ease. It delights in dusting itself and 

 may often be seen in dusty roads or in 

 bare sandy places in fields, lying on its 

 side and thoroughly dusting its plumage 

 after the manner of the domestic fowls. 

 Its call note has been described as a 

 "liquid, musical, double note, somewhat 

 resembling the sound made by a whistle 

 half full of water." It is so peculiar that 

 it cannot be expressed in syllables. 



While the Skylark is a native of 

 Europe and portions of Asia and Africa, 

 we may also claim this popular -bird as a 

 part of our avi-fauna, for it is a casual 

 visitor in Greenland and it is also occa- 

 sionally seen in the Bermuda islands. 

 Efforts to- introduce the Skylark into the 

 United States have been made. While 

 most of these efforts have been total fail- 

 ures, some were apparently successful for 



a time. In the years 1887 and 1888 the 

 Skylarks seemed quite well established 

 and nested on Long Island, New York. 

 In March of the latter year, however, a 

 severe blizzard occurred which appar- 

 ently destroyed the entire colony as none 

 of the birds were seen tor several years. 

 In the year 1895, however, a singing bird 

 and a nest were observed in the month of 

 July. 



The nest of the Skylark is a very sim- 

 ple structure. It is always placed upon 

 the. ground and is made of dried hay, 

 grass and moss and lined with finer grass, 

 fine rootlets and often a few hairs. It is 

 built in a slight depression, which may be 

 scratched out by the bird, and under the 

 protecting shadows of a tuft of herbage 

 or a clod of earth. More frequently the 

 nests are placed in corn fields or in the 

 grass of meadows but they are sometimes 

 built in weedy pastures. Skylarks are 

 easily caught and readily tamed. They 

 seem to thrive in captivity and sing just 

 as sweetly as when "soaring in bound- 

 less freedom high up amongst the 

 clouds." 



We cannot close this article without 

 again referring to the beautiful song of 

 this pastoral bird of which Shakespeare 

 has said so much in the one simple line, 

 Hark ! hark ! the Lark at heaven's gate sings, 

 and of which Shelley wrote, in beauti- 

 ful verses, after having heard the Sky- 

 lark's carolling. We quote the opening 

 stanzas : 



Hail to thee, blithe Spirit ! 



Bird thou never wert, 

 That from Heaven, or near it, 



Pourest thy full heart 

 In profuse strains of unpremeditated art. 

 Higher still and higher 



From the earth thou springest 

 Like a cloud of fire, 



The blue deep thou wingest, 

 And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever 

 singest. 



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