SKY-LARK. 269 



double notCj somewhat resembling the sound made by a whistle half full 

 of water. 



The Sky-Lark is not very shy, and will often allow the observer to 

 watch it within a distance of a few yards. It runs about with great ease, 

 often pausing for a moment to look warily around, stretching out its neck 

 and standing as high on its legs as possible; but it often skulks very 

 closely in the herbage. Its flight is quick and powerful, and when passing 

 from place to place is straight or only very slightly undulating. The' 

 Sky-Lark is very fond of dusting itself, for the purpose of getting rid of 

 troublesome parasites ; it may often be seen on a sandy road, or in 

 a little bare patch in the fields, lying on its side, shaking its wings, and 

 thoroughly dusting its plumage. It always roosts upon the ground 

 amongst tall herbage, and is seldom or never seen to perch in a 

 tree. 



Although the Sky-Lark often pairs early in March, nesting-duties do 

 not generally commence before the middle of April. In exceptional cases 

 eggs may be found as early as the first week in April. The nest is always 

 built upon the ground amongst herbage, and is usually well concealed : 

 generally it is placed amongst the meadow-grass or the growing corn, but 

 sometimes it is built in the coarse herbage on commons and weedy pastures, 

 or amongst the wiry heath-branches on the moors. It is often budt behind 

 a tuft of herbage, and is usually placed in a little depression often scratched 

 out by the bird. The nest is a simple little structure, made externally of 

 dry coarse grass and a scrap or two of moss, and it is lined with finer grass, 

 rootlets, and sometimes a few hairs. These materials are very loosely put 

 together, as is usually the case in most nests built on the ground. The 

 eggs of the Sky-Lark are four or five in number, sometimes only three. 

 The ground-colour varies from dull white, to white with just a tinge of 

 olive, and the markings are olive-brown or neutral brown, the underlying 

 ones being pale grey. The spots are generally so thickly distributed over 

 the entire surface as to conceal most of the ground-colour, and on the 

 large end they are often confluent and form an irregular zone. On 

 those eggs where the markings are not so thickly dispersed the zone is 

 much broader and darker. A rare but very beautiful variety of the egg of 

 this bird is white in ground-colour, thickly mottled and spotted with 

 brownish red, and with numerous underlying markings of grey. The eggs 

 are not subject to any great variation in colour, but differ somewhat in 

 shape, some specimens being very round, others pyriform, and many oval j 

 they vary in length from I'O to '87 inch, and in breadth from '72 to '63 

 inch. The Sky-Lark usually rears two broods in the year, the young of 

 the first being generally abroad by the middle of June, and those of the 

 second in August. The female performs most of the duties of incubation, 

 and is a very close sitter, usually allowing herself to be almost trodden 



