LARK-GLASS. 127 



bird itself, I feel tempted to give you a brief de- 

 scription of it. 



The soi-disant sportsman provides himself with 

 a certain implement called a lark-glass, which 

 may be fashioned in different ways according to 

 the taste or whim of the fabricator. The follow- 

 ing is a rough sketch from a highly approved 

 article of this kind a regular syren in its way 

 which had lured many thousands to their doom. 



A piece of wood about a foot and a half long, 

 four inches deep, and three inches wide, is planed 

 off on two sides so as to resemble the roof of a 

 well-known toy yclept a Noah's ark, but more 

 than twice as long. In the sloping sides are set 

 several bits of looking-glass. A long iron spindle, 

 the lower end of which is sharp and fixed in the 

 ground, passes freely through the centre ; on this 

 the instrument turns, and even spins rapidly when 

 a string has been attached and is pulled by the 

 performer, who generally stands at a distance of 

 fifteen or twenty yards from the decoy. The 

 reflection of the sun's rays from these little revolv- 

 ing mirrors seems to possess a mysterious attrac- 

 tion for the larks, for they descend in great 

 numbers from a considerable height in the air, 

 hover over the spot, and suffer themselves to be 

 shot at repeatedly without attempting to leave the 

 field or to continue their course. 



