WOODLARK. 
179 
INSESSORES. AL AUDI DAE. 
CONIROSTRES. 
WOODLARK. 
Alauda arbqrea. 
PLATE XLV. FIO. III. 
Great progress lias been made of late towards a know¬ 
ledge of tlie eggs of our British Birds. Till within a 
few years the eggs of the Woodlark were very little 
known, and were misrepresented in most collections by 
one of the varieties of those of the tree-pipit. 
The difficulty in procuring its eggs may be accounted 
for by the value that is set upon the young birds, and 
the eagerness with which they are sought, to rear them 
for the cage. 
The Woodlark, though not a rare bird, being met with 
in most of the southern counties, is yet nowhere numer¬ 
ous : north of York it is but seldom met with, but has 
been frequently taken by the bird-catchers in the neigh¬ 
bourhood of that city. It is partial to newly-inclosed 
lands, and to light heathy districts ; and makes its nest 
for the most part on those bare pastures which generally 
surround them, especially if trees and plantations are not 
far distant; it may be found also on the bare fallow field. 
The nest, which is composed of coarse grass and roots, 
mixed occasionally with moss, and the skeletons of de¬ 
cayed leaves, and lined with the same materials of a finer 
texture, together with a few hairs, is placed in a tuft of 
grass upon the ground. Mr. Neville Wood mentions 
n 2 
