64 ~ THE SKY LARK. 



and extraordinary compass are the grand 

 qualifications of the sk}^ lark's song. 



Sky larks are remarkably healthy birds, 

 being but seldom troubled with diseases, and 

 they have been known to live upwards of 

 fifteen years in a state of confinement. 

 These birds will sing eight, or even nine 

 months in a year. As they are very apt 

 whilst young to catch the notes of other 

 birds, whether good or bad, they ought 

 either to be kept alone, or within hearing of 

 some good song lark, till their notes are well 

 settled. 



When very young, it is extremely difficult 

 to distinguish the cock from the hen. Many 

 pretend that the setting up of the feathers on 

 the head, the length of the heel claw, or two 

 white feathers in the tail, are sure signs of a 

 cock bird ; in this, however, there is no cer- 

 tainty. A surer way is to choose the longest- 

 bodied bird: when the cock is about a 

 month old, he begins to record his notes 

 very distinctly, like an old bird, though 

 lower, and with a more inward kind of 

 warble, by which he may readily, and with 

 certitude, be distinguished from the hen. In 



