82 



On the Ornithology of Wilts \_Emberizi<l<c\. 



betoken such oxcessivo happiness in unconstrained liberty, such in- 

 tense appreciation of freedom, as it mounts upwards higher and 

 higher, and soaring into the clouds, pours forth such strains as 

 ravish mortals below, that it is positively painful to see it incarcer- 

 ated in a cage, and to reflect how its heart must throb, and how 

 intensely it must pine to burst its prison bars, and soar away out 

 of sight of its persecutors, singing a hymn of gladness and grati- 

 tude at its escape : it remains with us the whole year, and is essen- 

 tially one of our down birds, preferring open arable lands to more 

 enclosed districts : towards autumn it associates in flocks and 

 frequents stubble and turnip fields : it never perches on trees, but 

 walks or runs on the ground very swiftly, which it is enabled to do 

 by means of the very long straight hind claw, which gives it a firm 

 footing on the ground. It sings in descending, as well as in 

 ascending, and while hovering in the air ; and anon as some fright 

 or sudden impulse seizes it, down it will come like a stone to the 

 earth, and away amongst the corn to its nest ; but only to soar 

 upwards again presently, singing more merrily than before ; and 

 we may hear it carolling away long after we have lost sight of the 

 rapidly diminishing speck retreating into the clouds, for " Excel- 

 sior " is ever the motto of this aspiring bird. 



" "Wood lark" (Alauda arborea) . Yery like its congener, but 

 considerably smaller, with a shorter tail, and a white line over the 

 eye and round the back of the head, this species is sparingly 

 soattered through the County, frequenting woods, as its name 

 implies, and singing sweetly while perched on some tree, as well 

 as while sailing about on the wing : indeed it has generally the 

 reputation of excelling the Skylark in song, though I am scarcely 

 willing to allow this : it is a permanent resident with us, and in 

 food and nesting closely resembles the preceding. I have before 

 me many notes of its occurrence from various localities both in 

 North and South Wilts, proving that it is generally distributed 

 throughout the County. 



EMBERIZIDJE. (The Buntings). 

 Members of this family may at once be distinguished from all 

 others by a hard bony oblong knob in the upper mandible, which 



