INCREDIBLE NUMBERS OF LARKS. 175 



and when the slimy wriggler, alarmed by the concussion, 

 peeps up its head, the bird darts upon it with inconceivable 

 rapidity, and drags the reluctant creature out entire, or 

 breaks it in two, leaving half in the earth for some coming 

 Lark. 



It is only in hard winter, when animal food cannot be 

 procured, that this bird becomes a stackyard plunderer; 

 but the corn he consumes is but a small payment for the 

 assistance which he has rendered to the farmer during the 

 rest of the year ; therefore, and for the sake of his sweet 

 song and bright associations, let him go free and un- 

 harmed. 



Larks in incredible numbers are sometimes seen passing 

 from one part of the country to another, where probably 

 food may be more plentiful. Thus in 1856 we read in 

 i The Doncaster Gazette ' ' that an extraordinary sight was 

 witnessed in the fields attached to the Newton farms, near 

 Doncaster. The largest flock of Larks that can be ever 

 remembered visited there. They covered six acres of 

 ground, and amounted to thousands. They were rather 

 shy ; and when disturbed their flight darkened the air/ 

 And again, in 1858, a correspondent of a morning contem- 

 porary thus writes : 



I have just returned from a stroll in the Regent's Park (one o'clock 

 P.M., Saturday), when I witnessed a very unusual spectacle. About 

 100 yards from the railing of the late Mr. Holford's ground, I was 

 brought to a stand by observing an immense flight of Larks coming 

 over the Zoological Gardens, and making for the late Marquis of 

 Hertford's. Their numbers were countless, and they literally dark- 

 ened the air ; they were flying very low, and were obliged to divide 

 in order to pass me on either side. This flight took two or three 

 minutes to go over, and, after a brief interval, was succeeded by 

 another almost as numerous. Being curious to observe whether it 

 would be continued, I remained walking up and down, and was pre- 

 sently gratified by observing another approach from the same quarter, 

 and passing over precisely the same line of ground. I stayed on the 

 spot for upwards of an hour, during which time flight after flight 

 passed over me, sometimes in detachments of a few hundreds, and at 

 others in myriads. In one instance, one of these flights settled almost 

 within pistol shot of me, and covered the ground, within a few inches 

 of each other, for about the space of half an acre. The unusual 

 sight attracted the notice of one of the park-keepers, and of several 



