woodlark
(ˈwʊdlɑːk)
Forms and etym.: see wood n.1 and lark n.1
A species of lark (Alauda arborea) which perches on trees; distinguished from the skylark by having a shorter tail, more variegated plumage, and a different song.
| c 1325 Gloss. W. de Bibbesw. in Wright Voc. 164 La calaundre [gloss wode-larke]. c 1340 Nominale (Skeat) 808 Esperuer tele et chalaundre and wodelarke. 1544 Turner Avium Praecip. E 1 b, Superset tertium galertiæ genus, Germanis copera. Marg. a uuodlerck. 1686 [see skylark n. 1]. 1769 G. White Selborne (1789) 69 In hot summer nights woodlarks soar to a prodigious height and hang singing in the air. 1818 Keats Walking in Scotland 14 Wood-lark may sing from sandy fern. 1868 Morris Earthly Par., Man born to be King 1496 Mid them [sc. yew-trees] did the woodlark flit, Or sang well sheltered from the wind. |