Vetches," would not, at the time I speak of, have 

 been placed at the free disposal of this merry, 

 innocent rogue and his associates. Mr. Fore- 

 man recommends me to use a good telescope in 

 my rambles, and so " take a sight " of the larks' 

 consumptive habits. As regards the larks of 

 Scotland, I willingly confess my ignorance, and 

 most readily take his word ; but, if you please 

 Mr. F , pendente lite, we will let the food of the 

 wild English lark remain an " open question." — 

 TTv Kidd, Hammersmith, May 1, 1851. 



The Skylark. — It must be admitted that the 

 song of birds is among Nature's choicest gifts, 

 and those only who have listened to the " charm 

 of earliest birds " in full chorus, can form an idea 

 of the stream of melody poured forth from hun- 

 dreds of happy throats when they first wake 

 up beneath the curtains of some shady grove: 



" The lark begins the lay 



Rising the nearest Heaven, 

 His tribute there to pay 

 From whence his joy was given." 



Then we have the notes of the nightingale, the 

 thrush, and the blackbird, alternating with those 

 of the smaller warblers, relieved at intervals by 

 the soft cooing of the dove. 



Having often enjoyed this varied harmony, I 

 must say a word in favor of the poor lark, 

 although a tiller of the soil. Shall I boldly assert 

 that he does no harm? No. Shall I suppress 

 the fact that I have often seen him nipping off 

 the young blades of wheat? No. What then? 

 What then ? Why he ought to be shot — says the 

 destructive. Stop a bit; if put in at a proper 

 depth, in proper soil, he will not injure the part 

 below the coronet, and in a short time one or 

 more shoots will spring up again. But even if it 

 were otherwise, you should reflect that this world 

 " and all that it inherit " were not made for you 

 alone, and that you have no right to destroy off 

 the face of the earth every one of God's creatures 

 that does not immediately minister to your con- 

 venience. However, let your principles be fully 

 carried out. Away with all restrictions, class 

 interests, and conscientious scruples. Contem- 

 plate first of all the extirpation of the whole race 

 of that hard-billed villain, the sparrow, who will 

 have his allowance of corn both at seed time and 

 harvest, in spite of gun and rattle. Then suppose 

 the clouds to have fallen, in order that all the 

 larks might be taken at one fell swoop, for eating 

 it in the blade. Then pass an act for the abolition 

 of rookeries, upon the plea of their being general 

 feeders, and living on the plunder they obtain 

 from the neighboring fields. Next, trap and 

 shoot all blackbirds, thrushes, starlings, &c, for 

 eating your fruit. Then, set a price on the heads of 

 chaffinch, greenfinch, et id genus omne, for levying 

 contribution on your Turnip and Radish seed ; 

 and when all the larger tribes are disposed of in 

 a satisfactory manner, set innumerable steel traps 

 for the extirpation of tomtits, and bring summary 

 ejectments against jenny wrens for taking posses- 

 sion of your haystacks without permission. Now 

 reckon up the number of nuisances you have got 

 rid of: sparrow, lark, rook, crow, blackbird, 

 thrush, dove, and ringdove, chaffinch, greenfinch, 

 and bullfinch, hedge-sparrow, robin, and tomtit, 



are only a few of the most conspicuous offenders 

 who have received orders to depart this life, and 

 henceforth to keep company with the shade of 

 the " last of the Mohicans » and other proscribed 

 races. The idea is almost suffocating, but it is 

 done, and another year is come. " How are things 

 now? What do I hear you say? Your plant of 

 Wheat is very gappy. How is that ? There are 

 no larks now." " No, but there are plenty of 

 grubs." " Oh, it's the grubs now, is it? " " Yes." 

 " Well, what sort of a show of fruit have you 

 got? " " Oh, I had a splendid blossom, and the 

 frost kept off nicely ; but soon after the fruit was 

 set it fell off." "Indeed, how was that?" "Why 

 I suspect that some caterpillars which I found in 

 the fallen fruit were the cause of its falling off." 

 " What a pity ! " " Ye?, it is, I assure you, quite 

 a blight to my expectations, alter all the pains I 

 had taken to extirpate those vermin." " Then 

 probably you are worse off after all than you were 

 before you got rid of those nuisances ? " " I 

 really think so." " And you have had no 

 whistle?" "None but my own." "Then you 

 pay rather dearly for that." — F. J. Graham, 

 Cranford, May 14, 1851. 



Skylark, Case of the ; final Hearing, and Appli- 

 cation for his Discharge. — I have waited one week, 

 two weeks, and now nearly three weeks, most 

 patiently, to see how many more witnesses would 

 come forward against my hapless friend, the lark. 

 To show the all-but-universal reluctance enter- 

 tained to prosecute this matter any further, one, 

 only one English farmer (Mr. Hurt, of Etwall) 

 has entered the witness-box against the defend- 

 ant during all the period of discussion ! The 

 evidence of this gentleman, too, is rather general 

 than particular; for it speaks only of larks 

 having been seen to bite off the tender blades of 

 young growing corn. I believe firmly they do 

 occasionally so offend; and I can readily imagine 

 that this vegetable diet amalgamates well with 

 their animal food. Who would grudge it them ? 

 Mr. Hurt, however, shows no bitterness of spirit, 

 and I thank him for giving his evidence so 

 fairly. He proves neither too little nor too 

 much, The second witness, Mr. Graham, of 

 Cranford, enters the lists on my side. His argu- 

 ments are good ; he says, if the larks are to be 

 killed, destroy also, for similar reasons, the 

 mighty armies of sparrows, tits, ^rooks, chaf- 

 finches, &c, which devastate the land. He is 

 right. If the principle is to be preserved intact, 

 there must be " war to the knife " with the whole 

 feathered tribe fera naturce ; and even then, as 

 Mr. G. naively remarks, future crops will be 

 equally scanty and " gappy," and the whole 

 blame cast upon the grubs ! It is plain to the 

 meanest capacity, that if these birds were all killed, 

 the grubs would be the destroyers of the corn. 

 But thus it ever was, and thus it ever will be. 

 We are a grasping people j never satisfied. If 

 Providence sends us cold, rainy weather, and it 

 lasts, as we think, too long, we are in a rage imme- 

 diately. We lament, in piteous tones, that the 

 harvest must be a failure ; that the price of bread 

 will be raised; the poor oppressed; and the 

 farmer ruined : and yet, after all, we find the 

 harvest most abundant; bread cheap as ever; 

 the poor constantly employed ; and the farmer 



