LARKS. 



The SKYLARK (Alauda arvensis). I have had some 

 doubt whether I should include this bird in my notices 

 of cage birds, because I am unwilling even to think of 

 him in imprisonment : his whole nature so unfits him 

 for cage life, and his instinctive desire to soar into the 

 air while singing is so great, that, if kept in a cage 

 with a wooden top, he often hurts himself seriously by 

 springing up against it. As, however, Skylarks are 

 frequently caught and sold by bird-catchers, and oc- 

 casionally a nest-full of young birds comes into the 

 possession of those who are anxious to make them 

 happy, it may be well to give some directions for 

 making prison life less intolerable to them. And, 

 first, the Skylark must have a roomy cage, long enough 

 to allow him a run, the longer the better, and mode- 

 rately high ; the roof of the cage must be of green baize 

 or cloth, and the back should be boarded. It should 

 be without perches, and the floor must be covered with 

 red gravelly sand and powdered chalk, with old mortar 

 bruised. This he delights to roll in and dust himself 



ill 



