TIT-LARK. 



541 



the base of the inner web, white ; the next with a 

 little white at the tip : legs brownish. 



This is a very common bird in many parts of 

 this island, and remains here the whole year : it 

 affects barren situations of all sorts, whether 

 swamps and marshes, or mountainoos moors : its 

 nest is placed on the ground amongst furze or 

 long grass ; it is made of bents, dry grass, and 

 stalks of plants, lined with fine grass and horse- 

 hair : the eggs are generally six in number, but 

 vary considerably in size and colour ; some are of 

 a dark brown, others whitish, speckled with rufous 

 brown, or of a pale brown, tinged with red: the 

 Cuckow is said to deposit its eggs in the nest of 

 this species. During the period of incubation 

 the male sits upon an adjoining tree, and pours 

 forth its short but pleasing song ; it likewise sings 

 in the air, increasing its song as it descends to 

 the branch on which it is going to perch. In the 

 winter these birds frequent the low grounds in 

 search of insects and worms, and fly in small 

 flocks. 



Colonel Montagu appears to consider this and 

 the following species as the same in the Appendix 

 to the Supplement of the Ornithological Dic= 

 tionary. 



