LARES AND PENATES 



3335 



LARKSPUR 



sort of sixty-five acres, and immediately west 

 of the city is a United States military post, 

 Fort Mclntosh. The chief institutions are the 

 Laredo Seminary (Methodist Episcopal) and 

 Ursuline Academy and Convent. 



Laredo is the commercial center of a pro- 

 ductive agricultural section, irrigated from the 

 Rio Grande, and is in an extensive stock-rais- 

 ing country. Mineral deposits, especially coal 

 and iron, are a part of the wealth of the com- 

 munity. The annual international trade in im- 

 ports is sometimes more than $2,500,000, and 

 exports often reach $14,000,000. The chief crop 

 is Bermuda onions; live stock and wool, brick 

 and coal are also exported. The industrial 

 plants of the city include foundries, car and 

 machine shops, sheet-metal works, broom and 

 mattress factories, concentrating and sampling 

 works, stockyards and a hide establishment. 



A mission for the native Indians was estab- 

 lished at Laredo a number of years before the 

 first permanent settlement, which was made 

 by the Spaniards in 1767. It was incorporated 

 about 1848. 



LARES AND PENATES, la'reez, pena'teez, 

 in ancient Roman mythology, the deities who 

 were supposed to watch over the destinies of 

 the family and state, and who were usually 

 represented by small images in the hearth or in 

 a special shrine. These images were the most 

 cherished possessions of a household, and a 

 place was always provided for them in a new 

 home before the comfort of the family was con- 

 sidered. The Lares were supposed to be the 

 spirits of deceased mortals who returned to 

 watch over their families and friends, whose 

 homes they guarded from exterior dangers ; the 

 Penates had always existed as deities, and pro- 

 tected the interiorW the home. Originally the 

 divinities were separate and distinct, but later 

 were connected to denote the worship of an- 

 cestors and the hearth. In modern times the 

 terms are commonly used to designate one's 

 home or household possessions. 



LARK, a family of birds found in Europe, 

 Asia, Africa and America, noted for sweet 

 singing and remarkable powers of flight. About. 

 100 species have been identified, best known 

 of which are the skylark, which nests through- 

 out Europe and the temperate parts of Asia, 

 and the horned lark, the only member of the 

 family native to America. The titlark and 

 meadow lark are not true larks, but belong to 

 entirely different families. See MEADOW LARK. 



The skylark, whose song may be heard when 

 the singer itself is lost in the depths of the 



sky, is the theme of one of Shelley's most 

 exquisite poems. Hardly more joyous is the 

 singing of the skylark than the poet's melodi- 

 ous lines: 



Hail to thee, blithe spirit! 



Bird thou never wert 

 That from heaven or near it 



Pourest thy full heart 

 In profuse strains of unpremeditated art. 



Higher still and higher 



From the earth thou springest, 

 Like a cloud of fire ; 



The blue deep thou wingest, 



And singing still dost soar, and soaring ever sing- 

 est. 



This bird was also the inspiration of a beauti- 

 ful painting by the French artist Jules Breton 

 The Song of the Lark. It now occupies an 

 honored place in the Art Institute of Chicago; 

 a faithful reproduction in color appears in these 

 volumes, opposite page 916. 



This sweet songster is a modest little bird, 

 about seven inches long, clothed in a yel- 

 lowish-brown coat streaked with dark brown. 

 It is dull white on the underparts. It has 

 the peculiar foot structure characteristic of the 

 lark family, the hind toe being provided with 

 a long, straight claw. It usually nests in the 

 open field, laying four or five dull-gray eggs, 

 marked with olive-brown, and it raises two 

 broods a season. The skylark has been natural- 

 ized in Long Island. 



The horned larks are found in the northern 

 parts of both the Eastern and Western hemi- 

 spheres. They breed throughout Canada and 

 the United States, except in the South Atlantic 

 and Gulf states, and in winter may be seen 

 in every state of the Union except Florida. 

 These birds are about seven and one-half inches 

 long. Their plumage is dull chocolate-brown 

 above, and their distinguishing marks are a 

 black patch on the breast and small hornlike 

 tufts of dark feathers above and behind the 

 eyes. In the breeding season the males soar 

 high in the air, like the skylark, pouring forth 

 their melodious song while on the wing. They 

 feed on weed seeds, waste grain and various 

 insect pests, including the May beetle, clover- 

 leaf weevil, potato-stalk borer, nut weevil and 

 chinch bug, and are therefore valued aids to 

 the farmer. Grasshoppers and cutworms are 

 also a favorite food. E.T.S. 



LARK 'SPUR, a summer-flowering herb of 

 the buttercup family, which is found in the 

 cool regions of both hemispheres. It receives 

 its name from the odd formation of the flower 

 parts, the upper sepal having a long, curved 



