38 



CHAPTER X. 



THE SKTLAEK. 



THIS famous songster, Alauda arvensis of Linnaeus, is 

 L^Alouette of the French, and die FeUlerche of the Ger- 

 mans, and is no less well known than universally esteemed — 

 esteemed, alas! as a honne louche on the tahle hy epicures, as 

 well as by aviarists as one of their most cherished pets. 



It is a pretty and graceful bird, seven inches in length, 

 of which the taU measures three. The long straight beak 

 terminates in a sharp point, and has the upper mandible black 

 and the lower greyish white. The height of the shanks, which 

 are yeUow, is nearly an inch, and the hind claw is much 

 longer than the toe from which it springs. 



The female Lark can be distinguished from her mate by 

 the number of spots on her breast, which is tawny yellow, 

 with very few spots in the male, changing to white on the 

 lower breast and beUy : the shoulders are brown spotted with 

 darker shades of the same colour. White Larks are occasion- 

 ally met with, black ones now and then, but the cinnamon 

 is perhaps the most uncommon variety of all. 



The male Lark shows a white line above his eye, which 

 is surrounded by a dark circle, both of which distinctive marks 

 are wanting in the female. In their wild state these birds 

 are found all over Europe, and Northern Africa, frequenting 

 fields and meadows, and especially plains of large extent. It 

 is partly a migratory bird; the presence or absence of suitable 

 food in a particular locality regulating its movements, as well 

 as those of other kinds of birds. 



The Lark is not a very suitable bird for a garden aviary, 

 for in such a situation it soon becomes very wild, even if 

 hand-reared, and is apt to injure itself by banging about in. 



