eects 
during the winter that the Lark is so precious. In the summer its work is shared by many, 
but as winter draws near and the summer migrants desert, the task of catching the 
metamorphic insect devolves upon those species of birds that winter here. Rook, plover, 
thrush, and lark are invaluable then, for when the leaves have fallen and the fruit is stored, 
in the grass insect life is still abounding, and in its most dangerous form. Hidden in the 
tussocks of grass, or lightly covered by a thin layer of earth, myriads of insects are wintering, 
most of them in the second or larval stage of their destructive lives, and most voracious. 
Caterpillars, grubs, and maggots have abnormal appetites ; their greed is insatiable, and they 
seem capable of devouring a mass of food out of all proportion to their bodies. They also 
reach the maximum of mischief by other devices, for as well as developing this unconscionably 
gross manner of feeding, they learn to worm their evil way into the very vitals of the plants 
they attack. Some remain there for a few hours, some for weeks or months, while others 
maintain their coign of vantage for several years, among the latter the wireworm being 
notorious. It is to the grass-haunting birds that we must chiefly look to destroy insects at 
this dangerous stage; the field birds, among which the Lark, though small in stature, is not 
least, render incalculable service then. 
When the crops of Larks are opened they are often found to contain wheat, but the 
seeds of noxious weeds also discovered make handsome amends for that; and the proportion 
of vegetable matter, both lawful and contraband, is small compared to the mass of grubs, 
caterpillars, chrysalises, as well as fully developed insects, nearly all more or less destructive, 
that the birds are found to have eaten. Such a tale points its own moral. 
The Lark arising from its dewy bed to hymn the morning sun has won the title of 
Alauda—bird of song; arvensis it earns by its care of field and fallow. Surely we have for 
it a word of praise and a little care to save its frail life from destruction. 
Educational Series.—No. 1—OWLS. No. 2—WOODPECKERS. No. 3.—STARLING. No. 4.— 
SWALLOWS. No. 5.—KINGFISHER. No. 6.—OSPREY. No. 7.—_DIPPERS. No. 8.—NIGHTJAR. 
No. 9.—TITMICE. No.10.—KESTREL. No.11.—PLOVERS. No.12.—TERNS. No. 13.—WAGTAILS. 
No. 14.—CHOUGH. No.15.—JAY. No.16.—SKUAS. No.17.—FLYCATCHERS. No. 18.—NIGHTINGALE. 
No. 19.—GULLS. No. 20.—LEAF-WARBLERS. No. 21.—PIPITS. No. 22.—SKYLARK. 
No. 23.—GREBES. No. 24.—COMMON BUZZARD. 
Copies of the above may be obtained from the Society’s Publishing Department, Knowledge Office, 
326, High Holborn, W.C., or from the Hon. Sec., Mrs. F. E. Lemon, Hillcrest, Redhill, on the following 
terms:—Post free: three copies of any one number of the Series, 1d.: one dozen, 3d.; 100, 1s. 6d. 
Assorted packets, one copy of any six numbers, 2d.; one copy of any twelve, or two copies of any six numbers, 
4d.; or 50 assorted numbers, 1s, Special terms for larger quantities, and to County Councils, the Constabulary, 
and Schools. 
The Society’s Publishing Office, Knowledge, 826, High Holborn, London, W.C. 1897. 
