1:;S N«UITII AMKKICAN IMKDS. 



Mr. MiU'uillivi-ay j^ivos an cxcrllciit and ixi-apliic dosrription of tlu' liahits of 

 tliis Itijil, IVoiii wliifli we cxtnut a pnitinn drx rijitivo of its sonjj;. "It lias 

 hi'cn all('Li;tMl," lie writes, "that tlu- Lark ascends in a spiral manner, Init iny 

 ohscrvation iloes in»t cnrrolMnalt' the statement. In risinu' it often j>asses di 

 itH'tlv npward, lait with tlie hndv alwavs horizontal, or m-arlv so, then moves 

 ill a curvt'. and eontinnes thus alti'rnately, but w ithoiit a enntinned sjaral mo- 

 linn. At lir-^t, the nintinn (»f the \vin<4s is nniformlv llntterin-'; hut afterwards 

 it >h(>nts them niif two or three times successively at intervals, and when at 

 its -rreatest hei-'iil e.xhihits this action more reniarkahlv. When it descends, 

 llie .son^ is n<it intermittoil, hut is continued until it approaches the ground, 

 when it usually darts down headlon,^', and alights abruptly. Ficcpiently it 

 resumes its son;^' after aliirhtin^', and continues it for a short time, hut more 

 comnmnly it stops wln'U it has reached the ground. Often a l^irk may he 

 .seen hovering over a tield, in full soni,^ for a considerable time, at a small 

 hei-ht. On the 4th of May, ISliT, I ob.serveil a Lirk ]»erched on a half- 

 burnt whin branch, where it remaineil sinjjjin.i^' a Ioiil; time. I have often 

 seen it perch nn a wall, and si'veral tiuu's on a hawthorn bush in a hed^e ; 

 but it never, 1 believe, alijj;hts nn tall trees. 



'The sonu of the Lark is certainly not musical, for its notes are not finely 

 modulatetl, nt)r its tones mellow ; but it is cheerful and cheerin}.i in the liiLih- 

 e>t deuree, and protracted beyond all comparison. In a sunny day in Ajuil 

 or May, when the ^n-ass-tields have bei^un to resume their vei'dure, it is 

 pleasant to listen to the merrv songster that makes the welkin rini: with its 

 sprightly notes; in the sultry month of July, still more ])lea.sant is it to 

 hear its matin hymn while the dew is yet on the corn; and in winter, should 

 you chanci^ to hear the well-known voice on hiiih, it reminds you of the 

 briuht tlays that have none, and hlls you with antici]>ation of those that are 

 to come. X«> doubt much of the pleasure derived from the Lirk's sonij <lr- 

 ]H'nds niton association, but indejjendently of circumstances and associations 

 the inmii of the Lark im]>arts an elasticity to the mind, elevates the sjiirits, 

 and sus])en<ls for a time tht» i^Miawinn of corrodini; care. The carol of the 

 Lark, like the lively hfe, excites ])ure cheerfulness. In confinement this 

 bird sinus every whit as well as when at larj^e, and when rapidly perandai- 

 latini; the square bit of faded turf in its ca^e, it enacts its ]>art with appar- 

 ently as nuu'h deliuht as when mounting; toward heaven's irate." 



This bird succeeds well in cni:es, and lives to a iirreat aue, Yarrell mention- 

 iuij: one that lived nearly twenty years in confinement. Its natural food is 

 urain, the seeds of trasses, worms, and various kinds of insects. They be- 

 i^in to mate in A]»ril, and have two broods in a seas .n. Their nest is always 

 l»laced on the ground, often sheltered by a tuit of grass, or some other i)ro- 

 tection. The nests are woyen of coarse grasses and stems of pdants, and 

 are lined with finer materials of the same. The ei'i'S are five in nund)er, 



or? ' 



have a grayish-w bite ground, occasionally a greenish-white, very generally 

 sprinkled and blotched with markings of dark-gray and an ashy-brown, so 



