Nest-building is begun in April, and several broods are reared in a season, the song being continued except when he is actually feeding young in the nest.
The adult has the general plumage of a warm brownish tint, mottled and streaked with a darker shade. There is a light-coloured superciliary streak. The chin, throat, and upper breast and flanks are brownish buff streaked with brown, rest of under parts yellowish white. The sexes are alike in plumage but the female is rather smaller. Bird-catchers measure them from tip to tip of the expanded wings, rejecting those which are under one foot, as females. The young have the chin and throat unspotted, and have pale edgings to the feathers of the upper parts. Length about 7 in.; wing (of male) 4 to 5 in.
[Illustration: SKYLARK _Alauda arvensis_ Adult (left). Young (right)]
The Wood Lark is a much rarer bird than the Skylark, and very local in distribution. Rows of trees bordering open fields are the localities chiefly favoured by this species, which, except that it frequently perches, and may often be heard singing from the topmost branch of a tree, much resembles its commoner congener in habits. It feeds almost entirely on the ground, living chiefly on insects. The nest is placed a few yards from the hedge and composed of bents and grass, with a lining of finer materials. The eggs, usually four in number, are of a creamy ground colour, very thickly freckled with reddish brown markings. This species may be most easily distinguished by its song, which is much sweeter and fuller in tone than that of the preceding bird, but lacks the power and exuberance. When rising from the ground to sing, it always does so in a wide spiral curve, differing in that respect also from the Skylark, which rises straight.
The sexes are alike in plumage and resemble the Skylark, but it is a smaller bird and has a short hind toe and is more heavily streaked on the back. Length 6 in.; wing 3·6 in.
THE CRESTED LARK Alauda cristata, Linnæus
The Crested Lark is a common species on the Continent, even as close to our shores as the north of France, but very few examples have been known to stray to this country. It is not gregarious like the Common Skylark, and the song is not usually uttered on the wing, but in food and other habits it does not differ much from our well-known species.