ATTRACTIVE QUALITIES.--Of all the species of larks the wood lark has the finest song, and to my taste it is, of all our indigenous birds (always excepting the nightingale), the one whose natural notes are the most delightful. Its clear flute-like voice executes a sonorous, tender, and somewhat melancholy air. In the country it rises from the tops of the trees so high in the air that the eye can scarcely discern it, and there remaining stationary, the wings and the tail expanded, it sings uninterruptedly for hours together; it sings in the same manner when perched on a tree.
In the house, it is from a retired corner, tranquil and motionless, that it utters the different modulations of its beautiful voice. The singing time in its wild state is from March to July; in the house, from February to August. The female, like other larks, sings also, but her strains are shorter and less sustained. These birds appear to be subject to whims: I have seen some which would never sing in a room or in the presence of an auditor. These perverse birds must be placed in a long cage outside the window. I have remarked that in general these obstinate birds are the best singers. Their abrupt step and various frolics, in which they raise the feathers of the head and neck, are also very amusing.
Anthus arboreus, BECHSTEIN; L'Alouette Pipi, BUFFON; Die Waldpieper, BECHSTEIN.
This is the smallest of our larks; its length is but five inches and a half, two and a half of which belong to the tail, which it carries and moves like a wagtail, and by this characteristic it seems to stand intermediate between the larks and the wagtails. The sharp beak is dark brown above and whitish below; the iris is brown. The shanks are three quarters of an inch high, and light flesh-coloured; the angle of the hind toe is short and crooked. The head, rather oval than round, is, with the neck, back, rump, and sides, of an olive brown with black wavy spots.
The female differs from the male only in the paler yellow of the throat, neck, and breast; the white spot in the second tail-feather is also smaller, and the two transverse bands on the wings are whiter. The young males of the first year have the under part of the body of a lighter yellow than those which are older.