250 BRITISH AND EUROPEAN BIRDS. 



Come, ye sons of sprightliness ! 



Join our jocund throng ; 

 These the pleasures we possess ; — 



Come ye — come along ! 



He who'd live a happy life, 



Let him live as we ; 

 We defy both care and strife — 



Are from sorrow free. ( 43 ) 



( 43 ) Order, Passeres, (Linn.) Sky-Lark. 



The Alauda Arvensis, Lark, Sky-Lark, Mounting-Lark, 

 Common-Field-Lark, or Laverock, inhabits Europe, Asia, and 

 Africa; feeds on fruit and insects; sings sweetly, soaring in a 

 perpendicular direction in the air, and increasing the volume of 

 its note, as it ascends, frequently, so high as to be scarcely vi- 

 sible. It assembles in vast flocks in winter, when it is found, 

 very commonly, in stubble fields, more rarely in meadows or 

 pastures, at which time it becomes very fat. It builds on the 

 ground, either in tufts of grass or amidst growing corn ; lays four 

 or five greenish-white eggs, with dusky confluent spots. This 

 and the woodlark said to be the only birds which sing as they 

 fly; but this, like many other sayings, is most probably incorrect. 

 Body is above varied with blackish, reddish grey, and whitish ; 

 beneath reddish white ; bill and legs black ; throat spotted 

 with black; can erect the feathers on the hind head like a crest. 

 Four or five varieties. Length seven inches. Flesh good. 

 The song of the sky-lark has considerable sprightliness in it : see 

 the Introduction, page 69. Pope thus characterises it : 

 " Is it for thee the lark ascends and sings? 

 Joy tunes his voice, joy elevates his wings." 



Essay on Man, Epistle iii. 



The lark sings during a much greater portion of the year than 

 most birds ; and it is also believed that the female of this species 

 sings as well as the male ; yet the fact does not seem with cer- 

 tainty known. 



