666 
BIRD-LIFE. 
“ As soon as the mountain snows have melted, which 
usually happens about the latter end of February, the 
Wood Lark returns from her wanderings in foreign lands 
and seeks her old home. This bird seems to be singu¬ 
larly sensitive to coming changes in the weather. On a 
March morning, amongst our snow-clad mountains, I 
have often heard it singing away right joyously, and 
have always found that the snow has melted by mid¬ 
day. Why then should it have mourned over the snow 
which covered its food in the morning ? The bird 
was well aware that it would soon disappear, when its 
search for food would be no longer hindered. 
“ In the spring Wood Larks live in pairs; inasmuch, 
however, as the males are more numerous than the 
females, many a pitched battle takes place ere the bride 
is won. While pairing, the male displays his amiability 
to the utmost, courting the female with outspread tail 
and somewhat elevated crest, posturing in the prettiest 
manner imaginable, to show his tenderness and sub¬ 
mission to his fair spouse. 
“ The Wood Lark’s delicate nest is found earlier or later 
according to the weather, occasionally by the end of 
March. It is situated under a fir-tree or juniper bush, 
sometimes in the grass, and is placed in a slight hollow: 
it is built of thin dry grass stems and leaves, somewhat 
deeper than a hemisphere, and is very smooth inside. 
The eggs are gray, thickly spotted and speckled; the 
female alone performs the duties of incubation, during 
which operation she is fed assiduously by the male. 
“ The parent birds soon leave their first brood to shift 
for themselves, and commence preparations for a second 
instalment, after which they form themselves into a small 
hand with their youngsters, and migrate, either in a family 
