THE SKYLARK. 



JOHN BURROUGHS relates that a 

 number of years ago a friend in 

 England sent him a score of Sky- 

 larks in a cage. He gave them 

 their liberty in a field near where he 

 lived. They drifted away, and he never 

 heard or saw them again. But one 

 Sunday a Scotchman from a neighbor- 

 ing city called on him and declared, 

 with visible excitement, that on his way 

 along the road he had heard a Skylark. 

 He was not dreaming; he knew it was 

 a Skylark, though he had not heard one 

 since he had left the banks of the Doon, 

 a quarter of a century or more before. 

 The song had given him infinitely more 

 pleasure than it would have given to 

 the naturalist himself. Many years ago 

 some Skylarks were liberated on Long 

 Island, and they became established 

 there, and may now occasionally be 



heard in certain localities. One sum- 

 mer day a lover of birds journeyed out 

 from the city in order to observe them. 

 A Lark was soaring and singing in the 

 sky above him. An old Irishman came 

 along and suddenly stopped as if trans- 

 fixed to the spot. A look of mingled 

 delight and incredulity came into his 

 face. Was he indeed hearing the bird 

 of his youth? He took off his hat, 

 turning his face skyward, and with 

 moving lips and streaming eyes stood 

 a long time regarding the bird. "Ah," 

 thought the student of nature, "if 1 

 could only hear the bird as he hears 

 that song — with his ears!" To the man 

 of science it was only a bird song to be 

 critically compared to a score of others; 

 but to the other it brought back his 

 youth and all those long-gone days on 

 his native hills! 



NATURE STUDY AND NATURE'S RIGHT. 



There is another study which should 

 go hand in hand with nature-work — na- 

 ture's rights, people's rights. Too 

 many little feet are learning to trespass; 

 too many little hands are learning to 

 steal, for that is what it really is. Chil- 

 dren are young and thoughtless and 

 love flowers. But does loving and wish- 

 ing for things which are not ours make 

 it right to take them? If the teacher 

 can develop the love of nature, can she 

 not develop the sense of honor also? 

 Cannot the moral growth and the men- 

 tal growth of the child develop to- 

 gether? 



To love nature is not to ruthlessly 

 rob her of her treasures. Therefore in 



collecting for the school-room teach 

 the children to use thought and care in 

 breaking the tender branches. They 

 should remember that each flower on 

 the fruit-tree will in time become fruit. 

 Mother Nature has taken time and lov- 

 ing care to bring forth the leaves and 

 flowers. The different parts of the 

 flowers may be studied without sacri- 

 ficing many blossoms. 



And the birds, why rob them of nests 

 or eggs? Many ways can be found for 

 studying nests, eggs, and birds, without 

 causing suffering. Nature and science 

 study,taughtby thethoughtlessteacher, 

 can do much harm. — A. G. Bullock in 

 School Journal. 



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