160 MEMORIAL TRIBUTE 



14. THE CAROL OF THE LARK. 



The mellow song of the merle or mavis is apt to 

 inspire melancholy, especially if heard in a sequestered 

 valley toward the close of day, and the feelings 

 which it excites have perhaps as much of a depressing 

 as of a soothing tendency ; but the carol of the lark, 

 like the lively fife, excites pure cheerfulness, and might 

 with propriety be prescribed as an antidote of dulness. 

 It is not merely music that we look for in the song of 

 birds, but variety, and the expression of passions, feel- 

 ings, and wants. Were all our warblers to tune their 

 throats according to rule, we should become sickly and 

 sentimental, fill the valleys with sighs, and groan from 

 the mountain tops ; but the loud war-whoop of the 

 eagle, the harsh scream of the heron, and the croak of 

 the raven, are antidotes to the bewitching melody of 

 the black-cap and nightingale. I have endeavoured to 

 trace a repetition at regular intervals in the strains of 

 the lark ; but its modulations seem to have no rule. In 

 confinement this bird sings every whit as well as when 

 at large ; and when rapidly perambulating the square 

 bit of faded turf in its cage, it enacts its part with 

 apparently as much delight as when mounting " to- 

 wards heaven's gate." British Birds, vol. ii. p. 170. 



15. THE HEN-HARRIER. 



Having examined the form, and somewhat of the 

 structure of the hen-harrier, we are prepared for the 



