SHORE LARK. 571 



the view, in as close and regular array as haycocks in a meadow. A con- 

 tinued splash was produced by the garbage as it was thrown overboard, 

 and you may judge, if you can, how many thousands of cod and ling 

 have been destroyed, before the whole bottom of this harbour has been 

 paved with their heads. 



The thick fog rolled around us, impelled by the chill breeze of the 

 east. Mountains high and bleak we knew were near, but as yet the land- 

 scape was concealed from our view. At length the mist disperses, reft by 

 the northern blasts, the sun appears riding among the fleeting vapours, 

 and now the curtain rises, when lo ! what a magnificent prospect presents 

 itself ! craggy cliffs, with masses of snow still hanging to their sides, and 

 from whose summits, under sheets of ice, cataracts rush in fury towards 

 the plain. The dismal table-lands form a striking contrast with the beau- 

 tiful verdure below. Turning towards the south-west, where lay my che- 

 rished land, I beheld the precipitous shores of Newfoundland, with masses 

 of ice between, fixed to the foundations of the deep, their everchanging 

 prismatic tints dazzling the eye. But hark ! the song of the Shore I.ark 

 fills the air, as the warbler mounts on high. " Man the whale-boat," cries 

 the watchful captain ; " young friends, let us off to the shore," say I ; 

 and soon were we all at the place where Ave had seen the bird alight. 



Although in the course of our previous rambles along the coast of La- 

 brador, and among the numberless islands that guard its shores, I had 

 already seen this Lark in the act of breeding, never before that day 

 did I so much enjoy its song, and never before I reached this singular 

 spot, had I to add to my joys that of finding its nest. Here I found the 

 bird in the full perfection of plumage and song, and here I had an oppor- 

 tunity of studying its habits, which I will now, kind reader, endeavour to 

 describe. 



The Shore Lark breeds on the high and desolate tracts of Labrador, 

 in the vicinity of the sea. The face of the country appears as if formed 

 of one undulated expanse of dark granite, covered with mosses and lichens, 

 varying in size and colour, some green, others as white as snow, and others 

 again of every tint, and disposed in large patches or tufts. It is on the 

 latter that the Lark places her nest, which is disposed with so much care, 

 while the moss so resembles the bird in hue, that unless you almost tread 

 upon her as she sits, she seems to feel secure, and remains unmoved. 

 Should you, however, approach so near, she flutters away, feigning lame- 

 ness so cunningly, that none but one accustomed to the sight can refrain 



