114 BRITISH AND EUROPEAN BIRDS. 



Here the hill's gentle slope to the river descends, 

 Which, in sinuous course, through a wilderness 



wends; — 

 There, amid lofty rocks, hung with ivy and yew, 

 Doth echo, the wood-nymph her pleasure pursue ; 

 And the comb, and the glen, and the shadowy vale, 

 Invite the fond lover to tell his soft tale. 

 The woods and thick copses, as mansions of rest, 

 Many warblers oft choose for their home and their 



nest; 



an arched entrance level with the ground. Feeds on insects 

 and grass seeds ; flesh good, little inferior to the quail. Inha- 

 bits North America from Canada to New Orleans.— Though 

 this well known species cannot boast of the powers of song 

 which distinguish the sky-lark of Europe, yet in richness of 

 plumage as well as in sweetness of voice, as far as its few notes 

 extend, it is eminently supeiior. It differs however from the 



tribe in wanting the long straight hind claw. Wilson. 



The Obscura, Rock-lark, Dusky-Lark, or Sea-Lark, inha- 

 bits rocky places in England, and most probably other parts of 

 Europe; it is about seven inches long; solitary and sings little; 

 note like the chirp of a grasshopper. — The Minor, Field-lark, 

 Lesser Field-lark, Short-heeled Field-lark, or Meadow-lark, visits 

 this country in the spring ; sometimes mistaken for the Tit- 

 lark. The Nemorosa vel cristata, Crested-lark, or Lesser- 

 Crested-lark, is said to inhabit Europe, and like the Bulfineh, 

 to learn with ease to repeat tunes played or sung to it. Orni- 

 thologists are not however, agreed about the identity or even 

 existence of this bird. The Trivialis, Pipit-lark, or Pippit, 

 has the upper parts of the body a rusty olivaceous-brown 

 streaked with dusky, beneath, ferruginous. The Rubra, Red- 

 lark, or Lark from Pennsylvania, is rather larger than the Sky- 

 lark, and a rare species in this country. 



