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that of the (Icy-lark, and its numbers are not fo great : it 

 breeds earlier, lince its yoiiiij]; arc fometimcs flown in the 

 niidJlc of March, and therefore they pair in T'ebriiary, at 

 which time, and not before, they part with their lall year's 

 brood ; whereas the connuon hirk does not hatch before the 

 month of Mny. This is a very tender and delicate bird ; fo 

 tliat, aecordinr; to Albin, it i impoITible to rear the young 

 taken out of ihe iied : but this is the cafe only in England 

 and fuch cold climates, for in Italy they are removed from 

 tiie iiell, and reared at hrll like the nightingale, and after- 

 wards fed upon panic and millet. Tl e wood-lark feeds on 

 beetles, caterpillavo, and feeds ; its tongue is forked ; its 

 ftomach mufcular and llefiiy ; and it has no craw, but a mo- 

 derate dilatation of the lower part of the oeiophagus, and 

 its cica are veiy fniall. It lives ten or twelve years. 

 The males arc dillmgiiillied from the females by their larger 

 fi/.e ; the crown of the luad is alfo of a darker colour, and 

 the hind nail longer ; it.^ brcall is more fpotted, and its 

 great w ing-quills edged with olive, which in the female is 

 grey. The wood-lark mounts high, warbling its notes, and 

 hovering in the air ; it flies in flocks during the winter 

 colds ; it is found in Sweden and Italy, and is probably 

 difperfed through tlie intervening countries, and confe- 

 quently over the greatell part of Kurope. It is alfo found 

 in Siberia, as far as Kamtfchatka, and in the ifland of Ma- 

 deira. Of thefe larks, like the common fort, fome are 

 niio-ratory, and fome ftationaiy. In autumn the wood-lark 

 is fat, and is then excellent for food. There are three fca- 

 fons, according to Albin, for catching wood-larks. The 

 full is the fummer, or the months of June, July, and Au- 

 gud:, when the fmall branchers begin to chirp, before they 

 undergo the moulting. The fecond is the month of Sep- 

 tember, wl'.en they fly in flocks and roam from one country 

 to another, roving over the pafture grounds, and perching 

 on trees near lime kilns. The young birds now change 

 their plumage, and are not difl:inguilhable from the old 

 ones. The third and the moft favourable feafon for catch- 

 ing wood-larks, begins with the month of Januai-y, and lafts 

 till the end of February, « hen they feparate to pair. The 

 young birds, wliich are then caught, make generally the 

 beft lingers ; they chirp a few days after, and with a 

 clearer tone than thofe that arc caught at any other feafon. 

 Thofe that are taken in the Summer months are ufually 

 taken in nets, by the help of a hawk. With this view, 

 the fportfman is to go out in a dewy morning, and fixing 

 on fome hill, he is to go to that fide of it which faces the 

 riling fun ; for this is the place which they are fure to fre- 

 quent. He is then to take out a hawk, and a fmall net 

 at the end of a ftick : when he fees a bird, he is to (hew 

 the hawk, upon which it will fquat down ; and on his ap- 

 proaching near, and making the hawk flutter over the 

 place, the bird will only lie fo much the clofer, fo that he 

 may go up and lay the net over it, and thus take it without 

 injury. The beft wood-larks that are kept in cages, have 

 been caught in this manner. A better way of taking num- 

 bers of them, is to prepare a net made like that for taking 

 partridges, only with much fmaller meflies ; three or four 

 perfons are to go out with this, and one of them is to take 

 out a hawk, which ferves in the fame manner for the larks, 

 as the fetting-dog does for the partridges. Wherever a 

 flock of thefe larks is feen together, which is very com- 

 mon, the whole flight keeping with the female till the next 

 coupling feafon, the hawk is to be fhewn ; and on hia 

 hovering, they will all lie ftill, and the net may be eafily 

 drawn fo completely over them, that not one can efcape. 

 The bell time for taking this bird for the cage is July, or 

 the preceding or following montli. Thofe that are put 



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into the cage at this time, fing prefently, but their fong- 

 time is not lafiing, for they foon fall to molting, in which 

 ilate many die ; but if they get over it, they commonly 

 prove very healthful afterwards, become very tame and 

 familiar, and fmg fweetly. Thofe which are taken in the 

 latter end of September arc generally very flrong and 

 fprightly ; but they do not fmg till after Cl'.rilhnas. Thofe 

 taken in January and Februai-y iinaHy prove the beft of all ; 

 they generally begin iinging in two or three days, or at the 

 utmoil in a vvcek after they are taken. 



The method of keeping them in health in the cage is 

 this : there muft be two pans of food, the one containing 

 meat, the other oatmeal and hempfeed. The following is 

 very good food : boil an egg very hard, to which add the 

 crumb of a half-penny loaf and as much hemp-feed ; let the 

 egg be chopped very fmall, and the hcmpieed bruifed in a 

 mortar ; when thefe are mixed, the bread is to be crumbled 

 in among the reft, and the whole to be rolled together with 

 a common rolling-pin, and kept for ufe. There muft be 

 fome fine fmall gravel ftrewed at the bottom of the cage, and 

 renewed at fartheft once in a week. This will prevent the 

 bird's feet from injuiy by being clogged with dung ; an i Kij 

 bad^Ling in this will alfo keep him from being loufy, after 

 which few bi.-ds are of much ufe. A perch muft be in the 

 cage, and it ftiould be lined with green baize, or made of 

 fine matting, of which the lark is very fond. When the 

 bird is firft taken, fome n»eat fiiould be ftrewed on the fand 

 in the bottom of the cage ; for the bird will be fometiraes 

 almoft f-imilhcd before he finds the meat in the pan. The 

 cock-bird of this kind is known from the hen by the loud- 

 nefs and length of his call, by his tallnefs as he walks about 

 the cage, and by his doubling his notes in the evening, as 

 if he were going with his mate to rooft. A better rule 

 than all others, however, is his fmging ftrong ; for the hen 

 wood-lark fings but very weakly. Both the cock and hen 

 of this kind are tender, and fubjeCi to many diforders ; 

 the principal of thefe are, cramps, giddinefs of the head, 

 and breeding lice. Cleanlinefs is the beft cure for the firft 

 and the Inft of thefe complaints ; but we know of no cure 

 for the other. A good ftrong bird will laft very well for 

 five or fix years, and frequently improve during the whole 

 of this time. The lark is not only a very agreeable bird for 

 the cage, but it will alfo live upon almoft any food, fo that 

 it have once a week a frefti tuft of three-leaved grafs put 

 into the cage with it. The wood-lark is one of the fweeteft 

 of our finging-birds, and is indeed very little inferior to the 

 nightingale, when in good health ; but we are not to 

 judge by fuch as are made feeble by improper food, or want 

 of cleanlineis in their cages. 



4. A. CiiiiipeJIrii, la Jpipohtte of Bufion, ghireana of Gef- 

 ner, &c. in German gicnerl'm, braclLrhe and Irautlerchc^ 

 meadow-lark of Latham, is rather larger than the tit-lark ; 

 being fix inches and a half in length. Its fpecific charafters 

 are, that its tail-quills are brown ; the lower half, except 

 two intermediate quills, white ; the throat and breaft, yel- 

 low. According to Willughby, the meadow-lark differs 

 from the other larks by the blacknefs of its bill and feet ; 

 he adds, that its bill is flender, ftraight, and pointed, and 

 the corners of its mouth edged with yellow ; that it has 

 not, hke the wood-lark, the firft quills of the wings fliorter 

 than the fucceeding ; and that in the male the wings are ra- 

 ther darker than in the female. Though the males are 

 hardly to be diftinguiftied from the females by their external 

 appearance, yet if another male be prefented, Ihvit up in a 

 cage, they wilPinftantly attack it as an enemy or a rival. 

 This bird has a flenderer body than the iky^lark, and is dif- 

 tinguiftied from it by the ftiake of its tail, like that of the 



wagtail 



