tances, which I should not
venture to state, if there were not so many witnesses to the facts, in
my neighbours at Botley, as well as in my own family, will show, that
_birds_ are not, in this respect, inferior to the canine race. All
country people know that the skylark is a very shy bird; that its abode
is the open fields; that it settles on the ground only; that it seeks
safety in the wideness of space; that it avoids enclosures, and is never
seen in gardens. A part of our ground was a grass-plot of about _forty
rods,_ or a quarter of an acre, which, one year, was left to be mowed
for hay. A pair of larks, coming out of the fields into the midst of a
pretty populous village, chose to make their nest in the middle of this
little spot and at not more than about _thirty-five yards_ from one of
the doors of the house, in which there were about twelve persons living,
and six of these children, who had constant access to all parts of the
ground. There we saw the cock rising up and singing, then taking his
turn upon the eggs; and by and by we observed him cease to sing, and saw
them both _constantly engaged in bringing food to the young ones_. No
unintelligible hint to fathers and mothers of the human race, who have,
before marriage, taken delight in _music_. But the time came for _mowing
the grass!_ I waited a good many days for the brood to get away, but at
last I determined on the day; and if the larks were there still, to
leave a patch of grass standing around them. In order not to keep them
in dread longer than necessary, I brought three able mowers, who would
cut the whole in about an hour; and, as the plat was nearly circular,
set them to mow _round_, beginning at the outside. And now for sagacity
indeed! The moment the men began to whet their scythes, the two old
larks began to flutter over the nest, and to make a great clamour. When
the men began to mow, they flew round and round, stooping so low, when
near the men, as almost to touch their bodies, making a great chattering
at the same time; but, before the men had got round with the second
swath, they flew to the nest, and away they went, young ones and all,
across the river, at the foot of the ground, and settled in the long
grass in my neighbour's orchard.

The other instance relates to a house-marten. It is well known that
these birds build their nests under the eaves of inhabited houses, and
sometimes under those of door-porches; but we had one that built its