. The popular natural history . Zoology. 348 THE BULLFISCH. mole-hill, or the old furrow of a plough. It is very well concealed, the top of the nest being only just on a level with the surface of the ground, and sometimes below it. I have known several instances where the young Larks would suffer themselves to be fed by hand as they sat in their nests, but the parent birds always seemed distressed at the intrusion into their premises. The materials of which it is made are dry grasses, bents, leaves, and hair, the hair being generally used in the hning. It will be seen that the sober colouring
. The popular natural history . Zoology. 348 THE BULLFISCH. mole-hill, or the old furrow of a plough. It is very well concealed, the top of the nest being only just on a level with the surface of the ground, and sometimes below it. I have known several instances where the young Larks would suffer themselves to be fed by hand as they sat in their nests, but the parent birds always seemed distressed at the intrusion into their premises. The materials of which it is made are dry grasses, bents, leaves, and hair, the hair being generally used in the hning. It will be seen that the sober colouring of those substances renders the nest so uniform in tint with the surrounding soil, that to discover it is no easy matter. The eggs are four or five in number, and their colour is grey-yellow, washed with light brown, and speckled with brown of a darker hue. They are laid in May, and are hatched in about a fortnight. Towards the end of autumn and throughout the winter the Lark becomes very gregarious, " packing " in flocks of thousands in number, and becoming very fat when snow should cover the ground, in case they speedily lose their condition. These flocks are often augmented by the arrival of numerous little flocks from the Continent that come flying over the sea about the end of autumn, so that the bird catchers generally reap a rich harve=t in a sharp winter. The next group is that of the Pyrrhulinas, of which our Bullfinch is a familiar example. It cares little for open country, preferring cultivated grounds, woods, and copses, and is very fond of orchards and fruit-gardens, finding there its greatest supply of food. This bird seems to feed almost wholly on buds during their season, and is consequently shot without mercy by the owners of fruit-gardens. The Bull- finch has a curious propensity for selecting those buds which would produce fruit, so that the leafage of the tree is not at all * diminished. Although the general verdict of the garden-keeping pu
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectzoology, bookyear1884
