ALAUDID^E. 



INSESSORES. ALA UDIDA1. 



CONIROSTRES. 



PLATE XCV. 



WOODLARK. 

 Alauda arborea. 



The Woodlark is a less common bird than its generic 

 companion the skylark, and by no means so generally dif- 

 fused. In some districts it is scarcely known, while in others 

 it is tolerably abundant. We have found it most frequently 

 in districts of a hilly character, varied with pasture, wood- 

 lands, and cornfields ; but it appears not so partial to widely- 

 extended level tracts of cultivated country, as the skylark. 

 In Surrey, and some other counties of similar character, this 

 species is very abundant ; even upon the level plains on the 

 borders of the Thames ; but the soil of these localities is for 

 the most part covered with herbage, and hills clothed with 

 trees in profusion are not far distant. 



The Woodlark is chiefly confined in England to the 

 southern counties, or, properly speaking, is more abundant in 

 them, although it is met with in the midland counties in 

 some parts, and much more rarely in the northern. Ii Shet- 

 land this species is hardly known. In the northern countries 

 of Europe, namely, Denmark, parts of Sweden, and Russia, 

 it is a summer-visitor only, but resides all the year in the 

 countries along the Mediterranean, and also in Germany and 

 Holland. 



In Crete these birds are abundant, and the sketch given 



