ALAUDA ARVENSIS.

Linn.-791.

L'ALOUETTE.

Buffon.

THE SKYLARK.

PLATE XLI.

THE general characters of the lark genus are, that the bill is weak, straight, bending towards the point; the nostrils are covered with feathers or bristles; the toes are divided to their origin, and the back toe is armed with a long and straight claw.

The length of the skylark is about seven inches and a quarter; the breadth twelve and a half. The tongue is broad and cloven; the bill slender, the upper mandible dusky, the lower yellow. Above the eyes is a yellow spot; the crown of the head is of a reddish brown, spotted with deep black; the hind part of the head is ash colour; the chin white. The feathers on the back and coverts of the wings are dusky, edged with reddish brown, which is paler on the latter; the quill feathers dusky, the exterior web edged with white, that of the others with reddish brown; the upper part of the breast yellow, spotted with black, the lower part of the body of a pale yellow; the exterior web, and half of the interior next to the shaft of the first feather of the tail, are white; of the second, only the exterior web; the rest of those feathers dusky; the other feathers are dusky, edged with red; those in the middle deeply so, the rest very slightly; the legs dusky; the soles of the feet yellow; the hind claw very long and straight. The feathers on the crown of this bird are long, and capable of being erected in the form of an upright conical crest, as they are frequently seen at breeding time, but not at any other season of the year.

This led Aldrovandus, and many subsequent writers on birds, into the sup

position, that the skylark and greater crested lark are of different species, which is indeed still the opinion of some ornithologists, but this is probably a mistake.

This and the woodlark are the only birds that sing as they fly; this raising its note as it mounts, and lowering it till it quite dies away as it descends. It begins its song before the earliest dawn, and often soars to such a height that we are charmed with the music when we have lost sight of the songster. Before the break of day it begins its delightful music, on pairing early in the spring, and continues it for several months.

Milton, in his "Allegro," most admirably expresses these circumstances; and Bishop Newton observes, that the beautiful scene which Milton exhibits of rural cheerfulness, at the same time gives us a fine picture of the regularity of his life and the innocency of his own mind. He describes himself in a situation

"To hear the lark begin his flight,
And singing startle the dull night
From his watch-tower in the skies,

Till the dappled dawn doth rise."

How exquisitely charming too is the picture drawn by Shakspeare's magic

hand!

"Hark! hark! the lark at heaven's gate sings

And Phoebus 'gins arise,

His steeds to water at those springs,

In chaliced flowers that lies,

And winking Marybuds begin

To ope their golden eyes."

Thomson also pays his melodious tribute to this sweet bird:

"Up springs the lark

Shrill-voiced and loud, the messenger of morn,

Ere yet the shadows fly, he, mounted, sings
Amid the dawning clouds, and from their haunts
Calls up the tuneful nations."

The verse in Gay's beautiful ballad of Black-eyed Susan deserves also to be noticed for the justness of its description:

"So the sweet lark, high poised in air,
Shuts close his pinions to his breast,

If chance his mate's shrill voice he hear,
And sinks at once into her nest."

Instead of retiring to woods and deep recesses, or lurking in thickets, the lark is sporting conspicuously abroad in the fields, chaunting on the wing, and while it soars beyond the reach of our sight, pours forth the most melodious strains which may be distinctly heard at an amazing distance. The faculty of singing is entirely confined to the males, which are larger than the females.

From the peculiar construction of the hinder claws, larks generally rest upon the ground; those which frequent trees perch only on the larger branches.

By building their nests upon the ground, they are exposed to the depredations of the smaller kinds of voracious animals; such as the weasel, stoat, and others, which destroy great numbers of them. The cuckoo likewise, which makes no nest of its own, frequently substitutes its eggs in the place of theirs. Yet notwithstanding these attacks, larks in the winter assemble in vast flocks, grow very fat, and are taken in great numbers for the table. In this country, the greatest quantity are caught in the neighbourhood of Dunstable. The season begins about the middle of September, and continues till the end of February; and during that time about four thousand dozen are taken, with which the markets of the metropolis are supplied. But this bears no proportion to the immense multitudes met with in Germany, where they are subject to Excise. According to Keysler, the duty at Leipsic is a grotsch, (about two-pence halfpenny) for every sixty birds, and has been known to produce frequently twelve thousand crowns. Other parts of Germany furnish proportional numbers, and larks are every where seen on the Continent, and as far as the Cape of Good Hope, and drawings of them have been brought from India.

There are several varieties of them. White skylarks are found in Den