NESTS AND EGGS. 
it has dropped, or very near to it, keen eyes will find its nest ; 
and there it is. Among the young blades of corn, which is its 
favourite nesting-place, the lark scrapes a hollow in the ground ; 
in pasture-ground or common, it selects a place among the 
long grass, where it builds a nest of stalks and blades of 
withered grass, rather loosely put together, lining them with 
softer and finer fibres. The eggs (fig. 11) are four or five, broadly 
oval in form, and over three-quarters of an inch in length, by 
about two-thirds in diameter ; they are greenish grey, irregularly 
freckled with a darker shade of brownish green, most densely at 
the broader end. The lark usually breeds twice in the season, 
— in June and September, — and the female sits so closely on 
her eggs that she has been taken there. 
The W oodlaek is smaller than the skylark, while it closely 
resembles it in other respects ; but it is observed to sing while 
perching on trees and bushes, which the skylark never does. 
Like the skylark, it may be observed to spring with the dawn 
from the field or pasture-ground in which it has reposed during 
the night, ascending perpendicularly, while it pours forth its 
cheerful song, which is even more melodious than its congener. 
The nest is generally placed in a cornfield, common, or pasture- 
ground, near a wood. It is composed of blades of dried grass, 
loosely put together, lined with finer blades, mixed with hair and 
wool. The eggs (fig. 10), four or five in number, are smaller than 
the skylark’s, and more elongated, being three-quarters of an inch 
by four-sixths, of a pale yellowish brown, freckled with umber or 
greyish brown, with dusky irregular lines at the larger end. 
The Titlark, or meadow-pipit, as it is more commonly called, 
is universally diffused from one extremity of the island to the 
other, sometimes perching on bush or tree, more commonly on a 
wall or stone, reposing at night on dry grass. The nest usually 
occupies a grassy bank or grassy turf, or is so sunk into the 
ground as not to be easily observed. It is a neatly-constructed 
nest, formed of stems and blades of grass, lined with finer 
kinds and tender fibrous roots and hair. The eggs (fig. 14), 
four to six in number, are of an oval form, three-fourths of an 
inch by four-sixths in diameter, varying considerably in colour, 
but generally of a light grey or brownish white ground, dotted 
and freckled with a purplish grey, especially at the larger end, 
where they entirely conceal the lighter ground. 
On the verge of the common there is, sometimes, a narrow 
belt of young timber-trees, with a thick hedge beneath, en- 
closing a large growth of underwood; on the skirts of the 
304 
