SKY LARK. 
13 
as he was walking, by the cry of a bird, he discovered a pair 
of Larks rising ©ut of an adjoining stubble field and then 
crossing over the road on which he was, one of them having 
a young bird in its claws, which was dropped in the opposite 
field, at a height of about thirty feet from the ground, and 
killed by the fall. The affectionate parent was endeavouring 
to convey its young one to a place of safety, but her strength 
failed in the attempt. The long hind claws seem well adapted 
for this feat. 
The Lark seems to have, occasionally at least, kindly feelings 
even towards the young of another species. One of these 
birds, which had been taken from the nest when very young, 
and brought up in a cage, was turned out when it was able 
to fly, and some young (Goldfinches put into its place. The 
Lark returned to her former abode, and was again put into 
the cage with the (Goldfinches. They were weak and feeble, 
and she not only brooded over them, hut fed them. Others 
have been known to continue to feed their young when cap¬ 
tured with them, apparently unobservant of the change, and 
Mr. Weir has written of one, a male bird, which, while in 
confinement, acted the part of a faithful step-father, having 
brought up a number of his own species, and likewise several 
broods of Linnets, and, what was still more curious, one which 
was only a few weeks old assisted him most assiduously in 
giving food to a family of young birds. 
In the wild state, if on the nest, the hen bird will either 
crouch close, in the hope, very often realized, of escaping 
detection, or, if disturbed, will fly off to a short distance, in 
anxious distress, in a low cowering manner, or hover about a 
little way overhead, uttering a note of alarm, which soon 
brings up the male. Larks are very good eating, and countless 
thousands are taken for the table, but still their numbers 
never seem to decrease. 
As to the flight of the Lark, it is indeed a ‘lofty’ one, 
continued upwards, higher and higher as the spring advances 
and the sun, towards whom he soars, gets higher in the 
heavens; up, and up, into the very highest regions of the 
air, so that the eye is literally oftentimes unable to follow 
it; hut if you watch long enough, you will again perceive 
the vocalist, and downwards in measured cadence, both of 
song and descent, but rather more rapidly than he went up, 
he will stoop; nearer and nearer he will come, until at last, 
suspended for a moment over the spot which contains his 
