170 ALAUBA ARVENSIS. 



Lark's song depends upon association, and to him who finds de- 

 light in wandering over the green fields, along the daisied mar- 

 gin of the clear stream that winds in the bottom of the pastoral 

 glen, or upon the ferny brae, where the " lang yellow broom," 

 and " blossomed furze unprofitably gay," shoot up amidst the 

 wild thyme, yarrow, and blue-bell, it is pleasant to listen even 

 to the " skirl" of the Corn Bunting, the see-saw song of the 

 Tit, the creaking cry of the Partridge, or the singular crake of 

 the Land Rail ; but, independently of circumstances and asso- 

 ciations, the song of the lark imparts an elasticity to the mind, 

 elevates the spirits, and suspends for a time the gnawing of 

 corroding care. The mellow song of the Merle or Mavis is 

 apt to inspire melancholy, especially if heard in a sequestered 

 valley toward the close of day, and the feelings which it excites 

 have perhaps as much of a depressing as of a soothing tendency ; 

 but the carol of the Lark, like the lively fife, excites pure cheer- 

 fulness, and might with propriety be prescribed as an antidote 

 to dulness. It is not merely music that we look for in the song 

 of birds ; but variety, and the expression of passions, feelings, 

 and wants. Were all our warblers to tune their throats ac- 

 cording to rule, we should become sickly and sentimental, fill 

 the valleys with sighs^ and groan from the mountain tops ; 

 but the loud war-whoop of the Eagle, the harsh scream of the 

 Heron, and the croak of the Raven, are antidotes to the be- 

 witching melody of the Black-cap and Nightingale. I have 

 endeavoured to trace a repetition at regular intervals in the 

 strains of the Lark ; but its modulations seem to have no rule. 

 In confinement this bird sings every whit as well as when at 

 large ; and when rapidly perambulating the square bit of faded 

 turf in its cage, it enacts its part with apparently as much de- 

 light as when mounting " towards heaven's gate." 



" No bird," says Mr Main, in the Magazine of Natural His- 

 tory, Vol. IV, p. 414, " sings with more method : there is an 

 overture performed vivace crescendo, while the singer ascends ; 

 when at the full height, the song becomes moderato, and dis- 

 tinctly divided into short passages, each repeated three or four 

 times over, like 2i fantasia in the same key and time. If there 

 be any wind, he rises perpendicularly by bounds, and after- 



