Page:The Strand Magazine (Volume 2).djvu/186



The skylark, or laverock, is deservedly conspicuous among our singing birds, and is the only one that warbles while on the wing. As it leaves its ground nest and almost perpendicularly, by successive jumps, rises higher and higher, it indulges in a gush of cheerful song unequalled by any English bird. It is a fact not generally known, that as it rises it makes a corresponding crescendo, not, however, sufficiently marked to counteract the natural diminuendo of increasing distance. Then, after passing out of sight, the bird drops as if exhausted, only to mount and sing again.

The goldfinch is a rapid singer, and can be taught to pipe like the bullfinch. It has, however, a natural song of its own, of which an indication is here given. Goldfinches delight to sing in chorus, and there are few prettier sights than a cloud of these birds fluttering along a hedge, chasing the thistle-down as it is whirled away by the breeze, and uttering all the while their merry, sweet notes.