Remarks on Wood's British Song Birds. 517 



attained a reasonable altitude, begins to think it high time to 

 return from its aerial excursion, and descends, retracing its 

 steps in a perpendicular line. Now, it is singular that the 

 song is not commenced until the bird begins to descend ; or, 

 rather, it hovers for a few instants at the top of its flight, 

 singing all the time ; while the skylark offers its i grateful 

 tribute' in its ascent, as well as in descending." It is obvious 

 that there must be some inaccuracy in this passage : the bird 

 that does not commence its song till it has ascended to a cer- 

 tain distance in the air, and begins to descend, cannot "pour 

 forth its melody whilst rising perpendicularly in the air." 

 If the former observation of Mr. N. Wood is correct, the 

 latter cannot be so : but it is well known that the bird in 

 question does not pour forth its song until it begins to 

 descend. 



Let us now consider some of the observations which have 

 been given to the world in disparagement of the musical 

 powers of that general favourite the skylark, whose cheerful 

 melody has been the theme of poets and lovers of nature for 

 centuries. The strains of the skylark are characterised by 

 Mr. N. Wood as " harsh, incoherent, and unmusical ! " 

 Again, " even considered as a song bird, I by no means think 

 the skylark a fit object of the bird fancier's fancies, its song 

 appearing to me harsh and monotonous in the extreme. It 

 usually springs up from a clod of earth, rises to an immense 

 altitude, hovers for a considerable time at the portals of heaven, 

 and then slowly descends, generally in a perpendicular line, 

 but sometimes in a slightly oblique manner, employing the 

 wings less than in the ascent, leaving them motionless towards 

 the close of the heavenward journey, expanding the tail, and 

 at length alighting on the ground in a sloping manner, as 

 with the pipits, in order to break the downward impetus 

 which must necessarily have been acquired in descending from 

 so great a height. One would imagine that all this was labour 

 enough of itself; but our aerial chorister makes nothing of 

 it, and, during the whole of the manoeuvre, pours on the 

 ravished earth a continuous strain of melody, frequently re- 

 maining a full hour on the wing. But, splendid a theme as 

 this doubtless forms for the poet, I am far from willing to 

 chime in with the unbounded and extravagant praise bestowed 

 on the notes, on account of their supposed melody. If you 

 go into the fields wholly unprejudiced, and devoid of any 

 pleasurable associations (though I by no means wish to deprive 

 any one of these), I think you will agree with me in consider- 

 ing them harsh and monotonous." This is the opinion of the 

 author of the British Song Birds, who has included the 



