234 ALAUDIDjE. 



of great service by enlivening him with its song, associated with 

 which in his mind are doubtless scenes in the country, the love of 

 which is instinctive to the human breast. The lark, too, is gene- 

 rally treated with affectionate care, and the first walk of its master 

 in the very early morning, before the day's task begins, has for its 

 object, the providing of a " fresh sod" for his pet bird. 



The following anecdote, communicated by my late venerable 

 friend, Dr. McDonnell of Belfast, shows the high value once set 

 upon a skylark : — "A rather poor chandler in Belfast, called Hug- 

 gart, had a lark remarkable for its song. Mr. Hull, a dancing- 

 master and great bird-fancier, going into his shop one day, said, 

 he came to purchase his bird. ( Indeed/ replied the other, ' I do 

 not think, Mr. Hull, you are likely to get home that bird, which 

 delights all my neighbours as well as myself/ ' Well, I think I 

 am/ was the reply : ' here are five guineas for it/ The sum was 

 instantly refused; when ten guineas were offered, but also rejected. 

 He was then told, ' It is now the the fair-day, and the market full 

 of cattle ; go and purchase the best cow there, and I shall pay for 

 her/ But Huggart still declined, and kept his lark." 



When looking at the great quantity of wheatears and larks from 

 different parts of England, exposed in their respective seasons in the 

 shops of the London poulterers and game-dealers, I could not but 

 think how much better small birds are treated in Ireland, than they 

 are even in England. The indiscriminate butchery of species in 

 France, Italy, and other continental countries, is shocking. True, 

 in the south of Ireland, there is the silly hunting of the wren on 

 one or two holidays, but even this has lately been interdicted, and 

 to his credit be it mentioned, by Mr. Richard Dowden, when 

 Mayor of Cork. 



It is common for skylarks, as remarked by Sir Wm. Jardine, 

 to "bask in the sun and dust themselves, like the Rasores :"* as, 

 may be added, sparrows also frequently do. The stomachs 

 of several larks which came under my examination, especially 

 in winter, contained grains of wheat, seeds, and the remains 

 of other vegetable matter, with an occasional insect- larva : they 



* Brit. Birds, vol. ii. p. 325. 



