pursue their course to Syria and Egypt, from whence, it is asserted, they spread into Nubia and Abyssinia. The lark has been called the chief musician of the fields, as the nightingale is of the woods. The matin song of the lark was the established signal for the reapers in ancient Greece to begin their labours.

"The lark," says Bewick, "is diffused almost universally throughout Europe; it is every where extremely prolific. It makes its nest on the ground between two clods of earth, and lines it with dried grass and roots. The female lays four or five eggs, of a greyish brown, marked with darker spots: she has generally two broods in the year, and sits only about fifteen days. As soon as the young have escaped from the nest, the attachment of the parent seems to increase; she flutters over their heads, directs all their motions, and is ever ready to screen them from danger."

THE SKYLARK.

Gay bird of the sky

Ascending on high,

And singing sweet songs in the morning hour,
While the dew still rests on the opening flower,
And thy wing is wet by the summer shower.

So sweet is thy lay

Heard far, far away,

While the swelling notes to the clouds aspire,
As though they were caught from an angel's lyre,
And echoed the strains of the heavenly choir.

I have watched thy descent

When weary and spent,

But not long on the earth didst thou lingering remain; Thou wert soon on thy airy track again,

And filling the sky with thy joyous strain.

Tho' the fetters of clay

My flight would delay,

Tho' heavy griefs to my spirit may cling,
Like thee I would spread forth the feeble wing,
And songs of thanksgiving and gratitude sing.

When weary and worn

To earth I am borne,

Not long would my fluttering spirit delay,
But soaring again on my heaven-ward way,
I would hasten my flight to the portals of day.

And the choral hymn

Through the distance dim, Should lure me along on my heavenly flight, Ascending through glorious regions of light, To gaze on the vision unspeakably bright.

ORDER PASSERES.

The Woodlark.

Alauda Lulu.-CUVIER.

Alauda Arborea.-LINN.

WHILE the skylarks delight in the open fields, and fear not that the winds of heaven will visit them too roughly, the woodlarks, on the contrary, seek the pleasant shelter of the wood-side, and pour forth their songs from beneath its shade; they often sing also on the wing like the skylark. It is not only during the bright hours of day that their strains resound; at set of sun, and even far into the night, in hot summer weather, they are heard singing in the air.

"What time the timorous hare limps forth to feed,
When the scared owl skims round the grassy mead;
Then high in air, and poised upon his wings,
Unseen the soft enamoured woodlark sings."

These birds are found in Siberia, Poland, Germany, Holland, Italy, parts of France and Spain, and in England. Early in the spring we hear them warbling together in great numbers; as the season advances, their songs become more full and sweet, and they pair, and separate,

and build their nests. Then it is that the woodlark, seated on a tree near his mate, pours forth his most delightful songs. As soon as the young ones come out of the shell, he engages busily with the mother-bird in providing for their wants. The nest is made on the ground, in furrows, covered with grass and brambles, and usually on the borders of a wood. But it is only in spring, summer, and autumn, that the woodlarks are to be found in these retreats. At the close of Autumn, they quit these summer haunts, and retire into the open stoney fields; here they assemble in flocks of from thirty to fifty in number, never mingling with any other species. Their summer songs are then no longer heard, and they utter only a plaintive sort of cry, resembling the syllables lu-lu, from whence they derive the name given them by the French naturalists.

THE WOODLARK.

Dost thou love to hear the song-birds of spring?
Are their notes as voices of joy to thee ?—
Then fly to the grove where the woodlarks sing,
Rejoicing once more in their vernal glee.
The spring time is come, the winter is past,

And the woodlarks' songs are cheerful once more:

Their sorrows have fled with the wintry blast,

And soft-flowing lays through the woodlands they pour; Forgetful how lately the winter wind blew,

And they sung the sad notes of their plaintive lu-lu.

With kindred and clan they mingle the strain,
And love by the birds of their race to abide ;
And they come to their forest haunts again,

To build their low nests by the green hill side.
When the stormy winds unroof their retreat,
And wither the wreaths of their summer bowers,
Then afar in the valley the wanderers meet,
And seek to beguile the sad wintry hours.

While chilled by the night wind, and bathed by the dew,
They chaunt in soft concert their plaintive lu-lu.

ORDER PASSERES.

The Sparrow.

Fringilla domestica.-LINN.

THE most bold and mischievous of the feathered tribe in this country, is the sparrow. Invited or uninvited he heeds not, but freely takes his station in our fields, our gardens, our yards, and under the eaves of our houses. Sometimes he even dislodges the martin from his clay cottage, built with so much labour, coolly taking up his abode in the usurped tenement, and rearing there his young, as if it had descended to him by hereditary right, and been