AMERICAN EDITOR. 311 



musical organ, and it is often very curiously formed. 

 Birds require that organ less for breathing than any 

 other animals, because of the air-cells, and breathing- 

 tubes with which all parts of their body (even their bones) 

 are furnished. But those diffused breathing organs must 

 act with less freedom when the bird is making the greatest 

 efforts in motion, that is, when ascending or descending, 

 and in proportion as these cease to act the trachea is 

 more required for the purpose of breathing. The sky- 

 lark thus converts the atmosphere into a musical instru- 

 ment of many stops, and so produces an exceedingly wild, 

 and varied song a song which is perhaps not equal 

 either in power or compass, in the single stave, to that 

 of many of the warblers, but one which is more varied in 

 the whole succession." 



" Every body knows the sky-lark," continues Mr. Mudie, 

 but the American reader may like to be reminded that 

 this celebrated bird is about seven inches long, with a 

 brown plumage, tinged with reddish, yellowish, and 

 dusky shading in places. These larks are abundant in 

 Europe. They are brought to market in great numbers. 

 In England, they are sold for the table at about a dollar 

 the dozen. It is said that at Leipsic in Germany, a duty 

 of twelve thousand crowns per annum was raised on the 

 larks eaten in that city, at the rate of about five cents 

 for every sixty larks, and if the English crown be meant 

 this would give the number of birds eaten in the town at 

 the incredible amount of nearly four millions. 



They have a legend in Ireland, that the larks of the 

 wild valley of Glandalough never sing, " having been mir- 

 aculously silenced by St. Theresa, during the building of 

 the Seven Churches, because they broke the morning 

 sleep of the wearied masons, by their loud native 

 warblings." 



