Practical Bird-Keeping.



205



PRACTICAL BIRD-KEEPING.



XV.—LARKS.


By Dr. A. G. Butler.


Our Editor has asked me to contribute an article upon

these birds although my experience of them is limited to three

species: — the Skylark, Woodlark, and Mongolian Lark, other

more competent members of our Society not having been willing

to help him. He says :—“ to have kept one species and studied

it is better than to have had fifty and just fed them in a cage.”

Of course this is true, and, therefore, I am doing what I can

towards helping those with even less experience.


The Larks are related to the Finches and Pipits but differ

from all their relatives in having the back of the tarsus scaled as

well as the front. The form of the bill in the various genera

differs to an extraordinary degree, being slender, as that of a

Warbler in some ; long and tapering with a slight terminal curve

(so as almost to recal the Hoopoes) in Certhilazida ; broad, short

and notched like that of some Buntings in others. Unlike the

Finches, the bills of Larks do not seem to afford good sexual

distinctions, but as a general rule the males may be distinguished

from the females by their superior size, broader chests and

noticeably longer wings (see my little book “ How to sex Cage-

Birds,” p. 92); the hind claw is also said to be longer in the

males than in the females, but I have hitherto had no opportunity

of confirming the statement.


Being related to the Finches and Pipits, the Larks natur¬

ally feed both upon seeds and insects, and therefore should have

both in captivity. A good insectivorous mixture, a tea-spoonful

of canary-seed and two or three mealworms, smooth caterpillars,

or spiders daily, constitute the most suitable diet for caged Larks ;

a fresh clovery turf, a little groundsel, chickweed, or chopped

lettuce should also be given when obtainable.


As these birds do not wash, but dust themselves after the

manner of fowls, they should have abundance of fine fresh sand,

in which to perform their cleansing operations. Being subject

in their natural state to showers, it does not hurt them to occasion-



