Better than all measures Of delightful sound, Better than all treasures That in books are found, Thy skill to poet were, thou scorner of the ground. Teach me half the gladness That thy brain must know, Such harmonious madness From my lips should flow; The world should listen then, as I am listening now. [Sidenote: _James Hogg’s Verses._] James Hogg, the Ettrick shepherd, who had listened to the bird with delight on the Scottish hills, thus sings of it:— Bird of the wilderness, Blithesome and cumberless, Sweet is thy matin o’er moorland and lea! Emblem of happiness, Blest is thy dwelling-place— Oh, to abide in the desert with thee! Wild is thy lay, and loud; Far in the downy cloud Love gives it energy, love gave it birth. Where on thy dewy wing, Where art thou journeying? Thy lay is in heaven, thy love is on earth. O’er fell and fountain sheen, O’er moor and mountain green, O’er the red streamer that heralds the day; Over the cloudlet dim, Over the rainbow’s rim, Musical cherub, soar, singing away! Then when the gloaming comes, Low in the heather blooms, Sweet will thy welcome and bed of love be! Emblem of happiness, Blest is thy dwelling-place— Oh, to abide in the desert with thee! But we must not forget the earthly life of the bird in all these sweet songs about him. The plumage of the skylark is brown, in various shades; the fore-part of the neck, reddish-white, spotted with brown; the breast and under part of the body, yellowish-white. Its feet are peculiar, being furnished with an extraordinarily long hind claw, the purpose of which has puzzled many naturalists. But whatever nature intended it for, the bird has been known to make use of it for a purpose which cannot fail to interest us and call forth our admiration. This shall be presently explained. The nest is built on the ground, either between two clods of earth, in the deep foot-print of cattle, or some other small hollow suitable for the purpose, and is composed of dry grass, hair, and leaves; the hair is mostly used for the lining. Here the mother-bird lays four or five eggs of pale sepia colour, with spots and markings of darker hue. She has generally two broods in the year, and commences sitting in May. The he-lark begins to sing early in the spring. Bewick says, “He rises from the neighbourhood of the nest almost perpendicularly in the air, by successive springs, and hovers at a vast height. His descent, on the contrary, is in an oblique direction, unless he is threatened by birds of prey, or attracted by his mate, and on these occasions he drops like a stone.” [Illustration: SKYLARKS AND NEST. [Page 44. ]