ORDER PASSERES. ' 205 



handle of the semi-circle, passes through a small slate, placed 

 below, and extends to the hand of the fowler. This motion, 

 thovigh limited, becomes regular, and is multiplied by means 

 of a very flexible little spring, attached to the platform, and 

 the two extremities of which touch at intervals the semi- 

 circle above and beneath. Between the two extremities of 

 this little spring, there should be a distance of two or three 

 inches, so that the platform may be balanced up and down, 

 which puts into play the buttons or pieces of looking- 

 glass. 



Mirrors are made with springs, the mechanism of which is 

 the same as that of a jack or turnspit ; but the necessity of 

 re-mounting them, renders them inconvenient. This may be 

 avoided by supplying the place of the spring with two strings 

 of cat-gut, wound in contrary directions round the same 

 bobbin. To each of these strings, a packthread is attached, 

 the extremity of which is in the hands of the fowler. One of 

 the strings is unwound, while the other is wound, and thus 

 the mirror is continually in motion without the fowler being 

 obliged to draw the packthread so often. This machine is by 

 far the most convenient of any. 



The Crested Lark (Alauda Cristata), is called in French 

 Cochevis, which is an abbreviation of visage de cog, a name 

 derived from the tuft with which its head is surmounted, and 

 which gives it some resemblance to a little cock. The number 

 of feathers composing this tuft is not the same in all indivi- 

 duals. It varies from seven to twelve, and the bird can raise 

 and lower them at pleasure. 



This lark is more bulky than the common lark. The bill 

 is longer, and the wings and tail shorter. The wings, when 

 folded, come to about half the length of the tail. Feathers 

 of a deep grey, with an edgeing of a lighter tint, cover the 

 head, and upper part of the neck and body. On each side of 



