ALA 



ALA 



Gmelin enumerates 33 f;)ecies. i. A. Arvenfts, vulgaris of 

 Oliiia, Coelipeta of Kltin, alamla tion cr'ijlata of Gefner 

 and Aldrov:i!id, Valoucttc of BulFon, M\A JiilJ-lai-L or Jky- 

 hirk of R;iy, Willujrhby, Pennant, I^athani, Stc. the I'pe- 

 cifie charadtera of which are, that the two outcrmoft quills 

 of its tail are white lenjjthwife extcnnilly, and the inter- 

 mediate ones are ferruginous on the iniide : the lengtli is 

 about fcven inches. The males of this fpecies are fomewhat 

 browner than the females ; they have a blaek. coMar, and 

 more white on the tail ; their li/.e is larger, and their afpecl 

 bolder ; and they exclufively pofTefs the faculty of linging. 

 When tRe female is impregnated, fhe forms her nell between 

 two clods of earth, and lines it with herbs and dry roots, 

 being no Icfs attentive to the concealment than to the llrue- 

 ture of it. It fometimes builds its ncft among corn and in 

 high grafs. Each female lays four or five eggs, which are 

 grcyilli, with brown fpols ; and the period of her incuba- 

 tion is about 15 days. ' The young may be taken out of the 

 neft when they arc a fortnight old, and they are fo hardy, 

 that they may be eafily brought up. Some have faid, that 

 (he hatches three times in the year ; but this mull depend 

 on the temperature of the climate. Tlie parent is very 

 tender of her young ; and though, (lie does not always cover 

 them v.'ith her wing;;, (lie diitfts their motions, fupplies 

 their wants, and guards tliem from danger. The common 

 food of the young iky-larks is worm3, caterpillars, ant's- 

 eggs, and even grnfjhoppers ; and in maturity, tliey live 

 chiefly on feeds, herbage, and all vegetable lubltances. 

 Thofe birds, it is faid, that are dellined for fnging, ihould 

 be caught in Oftober or November ; and the males (liould, 

 as muck as poffible, be felefted : and when they are un- 

 traftable they fnould be pinioned, left they injure themfelves 

 by their violence againft the roof of the cage. As they 

 cannot cling by the toes it is needlefs to place bars acrofs 

 their cage ; but they (hould have clean fand at the bottom 

 of the cage, that they may welter in it and be relieved from 

 thevermm which torment them. In Flanders, the young ones 

 are fed with moiftened poppy-feeds, and foaked crumbs of 

 bread ; and when they begin to fing, with (heep's and 

 calves' hearts, hafhed with hard eggs ; to which are added, 

 wheat, fpelt, oats, millet, linfecd, and the feeds of poppy 

 and hemp, fteeped in milk. Their capacity of learning to 

 fing is well known ; and fo apt are fome cock larks, that, 

 after hearing a tune whiftled with the pipe, they have caught 

 the whole, and repeat it more agreeably than any linnet or 

 cajiary bird. In fummer the larks feek the higheft and 

 drieft fituations ; but in winter they dcfcend to the plains, 

 and aftemble in numerous flocks. In the former feafon they 

 are very lean, and in the latter very fat, as they are always 

 on the ground, and conftantly feeding. In mounting to 

 the air, they afcend almoft perpendicularly, by fucceffive 

 fprings, and hover at a great height ; but in defcending, 

 they make an oblique fweep, unlefs they are purfued by a 

 ravenous bird, or attradled by a mate, in either of which 

 cafes they fall like a ftone. Thefe fmall birds, at the height 

 to which they foar, are liable to be wafted by the wind ; 

 and they have been obferved at fea, clinging to the mafts 

 and cordage of fliips. Sir Hans Sloane obferved fome of 

 them 40 miles from the coaft, and count Marfigh met with 

 them on the Mediterranean. It is conjectured, that thofe 

 which are found in America have been driven thither by the 

 wind. Some have fuppofed, that they are not birds of paf- 

 fage, at leaft in the more fouthern and milder chmates of 

 Europe ; but they are occafionally concealed under fome 

 rock or ftieltered cave ; ami this concealment was known to 

 Ariftotle (Hift. Anim. lib. viii. 16.), and has been afcer- 

 faiaed by Klein. ' Thcvenot (Voyage du Levant, torn. i. 



p. 493.) fays, that the larks appear in Egypt in the month 

 of September, and continue there till the end of the year. 

 See Migration. 



The lark is found in all *he inhabited parts of both con- 

 tinents, as far as the Cape of Good iJope ; though Vil- 

 lault fays, that it is not found on the Gold coall ; nor, ac- 

 cording to Averroes, in Andalufia. 



This bird, and the wood-lark, are the only birds which 

 fing whilft they fly. The higher it foara, the more it ftrains 

 its voice, and lowers it till it quite dies away in defcending. 

 When it afccnds beyond our fight, its raufic is diftinftly 

 heard ; and its fong, which is full of Iwells and falls, and 

 thus delightful for its variety, commences before the earlieft 

 dawn. Milton, in his. Allegro, has admirably exprefied 

 thefe circumftances ; and bifliop Newton obferves, that the 

 poet gives a fine pidure of the rtate of the mind, whilft he 

 is beautifully defcribing the fcene of rural chearfulnefs, in \ 

 fituatron, 



" To hear the lark begin his flight. 

 And Cnging ftartle the dull night. 

 From his watch-tower in the ikies, 

 Till the dapple dawn doth rife." 



In a ftate of freedom, the lark begins its fong early in. 

 the fpring, which is its feafon of love and pairing, and con- 

 tinues to warble during the whole of the iummer. The 

 Hon. Daines Ijarrington (Phil. Tranf. vol. l.>;iii. part ii. 

 p. 282.), reckons this among the beft of the finging larks s 

 and as it copies the warble of ever)' other bird, he terms it 

 a mocking-bird. See Song of Birds. 



Thefe birds, which are efteemed a delicacy for the table, 

 though Linnoeus thinks the food improper for gravelly com- 

 plaints, are taken with us in the greateft numbers, in the 

 neighbourhood of Dunftable. The feafon begins about the 

 14th of September, and ends the 25th of February; and 

 during this time, about 40C0 dozen are caught for fupply- 

 ing the London markets. Thofe caught in the day, are 

 taken in Clap-nets, till the 14th of November. See 

 DoRiNG. But when the weather becomes gloomy,' and 

 alfo in the night, thelarker makes ufe of a trammel-net, 27 

 or 28 feet long, and five broad, which is put on two poles 

 18 feet long, and carried by m.en under each arm, who pafs 

 over the fields, and quarter the grounds as a fetting dog. 

 When they fee or feel a lark ftrike the net, they drop it 

 down, and thus the birds are taken. The darkeft nights 

 are the moft proper for their fport ; and the net will not 

 only take larks, but all other birds that rooft on tlie ground ; 

 among which are woodcocks, fnipes, partridges, quails, 

 field-fares, and feveral others. In the depth of winter peo- 

 ple fomctimes take great numbers of larks by noofes of 

 horfe-hair. The m.ethod is this : take ico or 200 yards of 

 packthread ; faften at every fix inches a noofe made of' 

 double horfe-hair ; at every 30 yards the line is to be pegged 

 down to the ground, and fo left ready to take them. The 

 time to ufe this is, v.'hen the ground is covered with fnow, 

 and the larks are to be allured to it by fome white cats,, 

 fcattered among the noofes ; they will foon fly to thefe, and 

 in eating will be hung by the noofes. They muft be taken 

 away as foon as three or four are hung, otherwife the reft 

 will be frightened ; but though the others are feared away 

 juft where the fportfman comes, fome will be feeding at the 

 other end of the line, and the fport may be thus continued for 

 a long time. As the fl<y-lark is a kind of mocking-bird» 

 and apt to catch the note of any ether which hangs near it, 

 even after its own note is fixed ; the bird-fanciers oftea 

 place it next to one which hath not been long caught, in 

 order, as they term it, to keep the cng-.d fl<y-lark honeft. 



The 



