218 THE FE.\THEKED THIHKS. 



and it SY/ells as tlio spiral w icleus, and sinlcs as it contracts ; so that tliough tlio notes may 

 be tte same, it is onl_v when the lark sings poised at tlie same height that it sings 

 in a uniform key. It gives a swelling song as it ascends, and a sinking one as it comes 

 do«u ; and e\'en if it take but one A\-lieel in the air, as that wheel always includes an 

 ascent or a descent, it varies the pitch of the song. 



" The song of the lark, besides being a most accessible and deliglitful subject for 

 common observation, is a very curious one for the physiologist. Every one in the least 

 conversant witli the structure of birds, must be aware that, \\ith them, the organs of 

 intonation and modulation are iiurard, deriving little assistance from tlie tongue, and 

 none, or next to none, from tlie mandibles of tlic bill. The windpipe is the nuisical 

 oi'gan, and is often very curiously formed. Birds require that organ less for breathing 

 ilian other animals having a windpipe and lungs, because of the air-cells and breathing 

 tubes ^^•ith \\-hicli all parts of their bodies (even their bones) are furnished, liut those 

 ditfused breathing organs must act with least freedom when the bird is making the 

 greatest efforts in motion — that is, when ascending or descending ; and in proportion as 

 they cease to act, the tratdica is the more rerpiired for the purposes of breathing. The 

 sk\-lark thus converts the atmosphere into a musical instrument of many stops, and so 

 produces an exceedingly wild and varied song — a song which is, perhaps, not e(jual, 

 either in i:)ower or compass, in the single stave, to that of many of the -sv'arblers, but one 

 which is more \aried in the whole succession. All birds that sing ascending or 

 descending ha^-o similar power, but the sky-lark has it in a degree superior to every 

 other." 



AVell might Wordswoi'th say : — - 



'• Ethereal iiiinstrel ! pilgrim of the sliy '■ 



Y>otit thou despise the earth, where cares abound ; 

 Or, while thy wings aspire, arc heart and eye 

 Both with thy nest, upon the dewy ground ? 

 Thy nest which thou canst drop into at will, 

 Those quivering wings composed, and nuisic still! 



To the last point of vision, and beyond, 



Mount, daring warbler! that love-prompted strain, 



("I'wixt thee and thine a never-failing 1>ond,) 

 Thrills not the less the bosom of the i>luin ; 



Yet might'st thou seem, proud privilege ! to sing, 



.Ml independent of the leafy spring. 



I/Cavc to the iiightLngale the shady \\ood ; — 



A privacy of glorious light is thine, 

 "Whence thou dost pour upon the world ii flood 



Of harmony, with laptm'C more divine : 

 Type of the wise, who soar — but never roam, 

 True to the kindred points of heaven and home.'" • 



The lark has great abilities for learning. The young readily imitate tlu' notes id' all 

 the birds in the same room with them, and the old sometimes succeed also, r.ul this is 

 not o-eneral ; for among birds, as among men, memories vary in power. There arc sonu> 

 \\lii(h in confinement will begin to sing as early as December, and continue till they 

 Tuoult ; while others, less lively, delay fill the month of ^iarch, and cease to sing in tlu- 

 month of August. Tn its wild .state, the lark begins to sing iu the first fine days of 

 spring, the sea.son of pairing, and cea,scs at tlie end of July; this, liowever, is not 

 without exception, as some individuals continue till llu' end of September. In the 

 country it very seldom sings when <m the ground; in the room it often does, and with 

 ease, and it liccomes so fame as to come and eat from the table or the hand. 



