THE TITLARK. 
Besides the Skylark and Woodlark, there are several others. 
There is the shore-lark who has a yellow throat and a horse- 
shoe-shaped crest on his breast ; the field-lark, the meadow- 
lark, and the titlark. 
With the exception, however, of the last -mentioned, neither 
of these are sufficiently known as cage-birds to need description. 
Indeed they are not worth the trouble of keeping. The first- 
mentioned being but an indifferent songster, and the other two 
being extremely delicate birds in confinement. 
The titlark, however, is worthy of a page. He is the smal- 
lest of his tribe, being but five and a half inches long, and even 
more slim than his brother of the woods. The upper parts 
of his body are of a rich brown, speckled with black. The 
under parts are dingy yellow. Each wing is crossed with a 
yellowish white bar, and the tail is narrow and slightly forked. 
The hen titlark differs little from the cock. Indeed, the only 
difference is, the breast and under parts of the body are even 
of a more dingy yellow, and the bars across the wings are of a 
more vivid white. 
The titlark’s nest, which much resembles the woodlark’s, is 
always built on the ground in the midst of a tuft of grass, or 
beneath a bush. It is almost impossible to describe the eggs of 
the titlark, as they appear in almost any colour, red, pink, grey, 
brown, and green — that is to say, the ground colour ; but they 
may always be known from the eggs of any other bird on 
account of the large size of the spots with which they are 
dotted. From four to six eggs is the number laid. 
The time to search for titlark nestlings is about the third 
week in May; and the place to search, the nearest meadow, 
moor, or common. The situation of the nest may be dis- 
covered by following the old bird, whose plaintive notes, 
especially when she approaches her nestlings, will easily guide 
you. If, however, the old bird sees you approaching, she will 
hop out of her nest, and scud along the grass as fast as she 
can run, fluttering her wings and screaming the while like a 
bird that has been badly wounded. This must be a ruse to 
attract your attention from the situation of the nest, for if the 
bird were frightened for its own safety, it could at once dart 
up in the air and out of danger ; besides, when she finds you 
have discovered, and are robbing her home, she will return in 
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