﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  10 
  

  

  almost 
  out 
  of 
  sight 
  against 
  the 
  blue, 
  hut 
  his 
  wild, 
  harsh 
  croak 
  

   sounding 
  strangely 
  near 
  and 
  loud. 
  

  

  If 
  a 
  destructive 
  bird 
  by 
  nature, 
  the 
  numbers 
  of 
  his 
  race 
  are 
  

   being 
  kept 
  in 
  check. 
  He 
  is 
  far 
  less 
  really 
  destructive 
  at 
  present 
  

   than 
  his 
  smaller 
  cousins. 
  We 
  wish 
  we 
  had 
  one 
  Raven 
  instead 
  of 
  

   every 
  thousand 
  Hooded 
  Crows, 
  or 
  even 
  for 
  every 
  ten 
  thousand 
  

   Jackdaws, 
  or 
  every 
  fifty 
  thousand 
  Rooks 
  j 
  we 
  would 
  be 
  inclined 
  

   to 
  make 
  the 
  exchange. 
  Still, 
  it 
  is 
  right 
  they 
  should 
  also 
  be 
  kept 
  

   in 
  check. 
  

  

  Family 
  ALAUDIDJE. 
  

  

  Alauda 
  arvensis, 
  L. 
  Skylark. 
  

  

  Local 
  Name. 
  — 
  Laverock. 
  

  

  For 
  some 
  reason 
  the 
  Skylark, 
  despite 
  the 
  strides 
  agriculture 
  is 
  even 
  yet 
  

   making 
  in 
  many 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  north 
  of 
  our 
  area, 
  is 
  getting 
  scarcer, 
  

   and 
  this 
  we 
  have 
  on 
  the 
  authority 
  of 
  our 
  correspondents 
  and 
  from 
  

   our 
  own 
  observations. 
  At 
  Invergarry 
  it 
  is 
  reported 
  as 
  getting 
  

   scarce, 
  as 
  also 
  at 
  Guisachan, 
  at 
  which 
  latter 
  locality 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  

   good 
  deal 
  more 
  cultivation 
  now 
  than 
  formerly, 
  notwithstanding 
  

   which, 
  the 
  late 
  Lord 
  Tweedmouth 
  informed 
  us 
  the 
  Larks 
  are 
  not 
  

   so 
  numerous. 
  Brown 
  of 
  Forres 
  remarks 
  that 
  Larks 
  are 
  common, 
  

   but 
  getting 
  scarcer, 
  'on 
  account 
  of 
  partridge-netting 
  at 
  night.' 
  

   Whether 
  this 
  would 
  have 
  any 
  appreciable 
  effect 
  on 
  their 
  numbers 
  

   we 
  cannot 
  say 
  ; 
  it 
  is 
  more 
  probable 
  that 
  they 
  are 
  getting 
  scarcer 
  

   there 
  from 
  the 
  same 
  causes 
  as 
  elsewhere. 
  We 
  have 
  mentioned 
  

   these 
  three 
  localities 
  to 
  show 
  that 
  the 
  same 
  thing 
  is 
  happening 
  in 
  

   the 
  wilder 
  glens 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  well-cultivated 
  areas. 
  

  

  On 
  only 
  one 
  occasion 
  have 
  we 
  seen 
  anything 
  like 
  a 
  migration 
  

   of 
  Larks 
  in 
  the 
  north. 
  This 
  was 
  during 
  the 
  severe 
  weather 
  of 
  

   March 
  1891, 
  when, 
  walking 
  along 
  the 
  railway-line 
  from 
  Brora 
  to 
  

   Helmsdale, 
  Larks 
  were 
  scattered 
  everywhere, 
  especially 
  among 
  the 
  

   cabbage-stalks 
  in 
  the 
  small 
  garden-plots. 
  These 
  birds 
  had 
  evidently 
  

   been 
  hindered 
  in 
  their 
  northern 
  migration 
  by 
  intensely 
  cold 
  weather. 
  

   At 
  other 
  times 
  the 
  Lark 
  is 
  a 
  rare 
  bird 
  in 
  Sutherland, 
  being 
  perhaps 
  

   more 
  abundant 
  on 
  the 
  hillsides 
  than 
  in 
  the 
  agricultural 
  districts. 
  

  

  To 
  the 
  more 
  inland 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  at 
  least 
  the 
  Lark 
  is 
  a 
  

   summer 
  visitant. 
  We 
  are 
  informed 
  that 
  they 
  arrive 
  at 
  Invergarry 
  

   about 
  the 
  second 
  week 
  in 
  March. 
  

  

  