THE WOOD LARK. 181 



with moss, wool, and hair. The eggs are variegated with light gray and 

 brownish violet. The young may be bred up with bread soaked in milk, 

 and ants' eggs. They readily learn the different songs of the birds with 

 which they are imprisoned ; but this medley is less agreeable to me than 

 their natural song. 



DISEASES To the list of diseases already given, to which the wood-lark 



may be subject, I must add one which is peculiar to it. This attacks the 

 feet and renders them extremely brittle. I cannot too strongly recommend 

 to clean them carefully from everything which might entangle them ; a 

 single hair may cut them, so that the toes shrivel, or ulcerate and fall off. 

 They become so brittle with age, that with all my cares I could never keep 

 any beyond four years; the least thing breaks them. Most of the wood- 

 larks which I have had perished from broken legs ; and this peculiarity I 

 have remarked in no other species of bird. 



We see from these instances, that if birds allowed to hop about a room 

 enjoy more space and free exercise, they are also subject to more inconve- 

 niences and disadvantages than caged birds. Their food is neither so appro- 

 priate or regular ; they cannot be kept so clean ; their feet are almost 

 inevitably injured ; and lice devour them, without the power of prevention. 



MODE OF TAKING. The wood-lark may be caught on the nest by means 

 of limed twigs ; but as it is very cruel to separate a pair, and thus to destroy 

 a whole family, it is better to wait till autumn, and to use the night-net. 

 They may be caught early in the spring, when there is snow on the ground, 

 by placing limed twigs or nets in cleared places. This is the best method 

 of catching them. It is true that this plan will not succeed in all years ; 

 but another may be substituted, if we have a decoy wood-lark, by placing 

 it under a folding net, in a field frequented by a flight of this species, which 

 will not fail to join it. The same means also may be used as with the chaf- 

 finch, namely, by tying the wings of a wood-lark with a limed twig on his back, 

 and letting him run to the place where there is a male of the same species. 

 By this means the bird-fancier may obtain whatever kind of singer he prefers. 



ATTRACTIVE QUALITIES. Of all the species of larks the wood lark has 

 the finest song, and to my taste it is, of all our indigenous birds (always 

 excepting the nightingale), the one whose natural notes are the most 

 delightful. Its clear flute-like voice executes a sonorous, tender, and some- 

 what melancholy air. In the country it rises from the tops of the trees so 

 high in the air that the eye can scarcely discern it. and there remaining sta- 

 tionary, the wings and the tail expanded, it sings uninterruptedly for hours 

 together ; it sings in the same manner when perched on a tree. 



In the house, it is from a retired corner, tranquil and motionless, that it 

 utters the different modulations of its beautiful voice. The singing time in 

 its wild state is from March to July ; in the house, from February to 

 August. The female, like other larks, sings also, but her strains are shorter 

 and less sustained. These birds appear to be subject to whims : I have 

 seen some which would never sing in a room or in the presence of an 

 auditor. These perverse birds must be placed in a long cage outside the 

 window. I have remarked that in general these obstinate birds are the 

 best singers. Their abrupt step and various frolics, in which they raise the 

 feathers of the head and neck, are also very amusing. 



