128 PET BIKDS OF BENGAL 



and we find eulogistic mention of it in our 

 ancient Sanskrit literature under the name 

 ^Bharadwaf. 



Besides the *Bharat', the other cage- 

 favourites, among the forty species of 

 Larks found in India, are the following — 

 the ''Aggin" or *Aggia' comprising the 

 singing Bush-Lark, the Bengal Bush-Lark 

 and the Madras Bush-Lark ; tlie 'Chendool' 

 or the Crested Indian Lark ; and the 'Retal' 

 or the Ganges Sand-Lark. The Chendool, 

 though not a native bird of Bengal proper, 

 is yet a bird of many charms, and ranks 

 very high in Bengal as a cage-favourite. 



From the avicultural point of view the 

 Lark has much to recommend it. Its 

 greatest attraction is its gift of song. It 

 is extremely hardy, easily adaptable to the 

 cage and, being a seed-eatmg bird, its food 

 offers little trouble to its keeper. It be- 

 comes remarkably tame and attached to its 

 m?ister. No wonder, then that it is so 

 widely popular in this country. 



It has been urged that to cage a lark 



