44 The Skylark. 



But we must not forget the earthly life of the bird in all these 

 sweet songs about him. 



The plumage of the skylark is brown, in various shades; the 

 fore-part of the neck, reddish-white, spotted with brown ; the 

 breast and under part of the body, yellowish-white. Its feet 

 are peculiar, being furnished with an extraordinarily long hind 

 claw, the purpose of which has puzzled many naturalists. But 

 whatever nature intended it for, the bird has been known to 

 make use of it for a purpose which cannot fail to interest us 

 and call forth our admiration. This shall be presently ex- 

 plained. The nest is built on the ground, either between two 

 clods of earth, in the deep foot-print of cattle, or some other 

 small hollow suitable for the purpose, and is composed of dry 

 grass, hair, and leaves ; the hair is mostly used for the lining. 

 Here the mother- bird lays four or five eggs of pale sepia colour, 

 with spots and markings of darker hue. She has generally two 

 broods in the year, and commences sitting in May. The he- 

 lark begins to sing early in the spring. Bewick says, " He 

 rises from the neighbourhood of the nest almost perpendicu- 

 larly in the air, by successive springs, and hovers at a vast 

 height. His descent, on the contrary, is in an oblique direction, 

 unless he is threatened by birds of prey, or attracted by his 

 mate, and on these occasions he drops like a stone." 



With regard to his ascent, I must, however, add that it is in 

 a spiral direction, and that what Bewick represents as springs 

 are his sudden spiral flights after pausing to sing. Another 

 peculiarity must be mentioned : all his bones are hollow, and 

 he can inflate them with air from his lungs, so that he becomes, 

 as it were, a little balloon, which accounts for the buoyancy 



