60 
CAGE AND SINGING BIEDfc!. 
yellow tinge of the plumage distingiiislies the young males 
from the females. Their musical education ought to com- ^ 
mence very early, as they begin to practise, or ^' record " their 
natural song before they are quite fledged; they easSy 
acquire the notes of other birds, and may be taught to ^ 
whistle almost anything ; if they are to learn an artificial ^' 
song, a chaffinch or a nightingale is the best master. ^[ 
Old larks are most commonly captured by means of nets, 
which -in the daytime are set up on poles, and the birds 
driven into them, and at night are drawn over the grass or 
stubble fields where they are sleeping. In this way great 
numbers of Dunstable larks, which have a high reputation, 
are annually caught and sent up to London, where they are ^ 
sold to the dealers for four shillings per dozen. Care must ^ 
be taken to put young larks into nets, and not wire cages, as ^ 
they have a great propensity for leaping, and would be ^ 
likely to injure themselves. The old birds should be put ^ 
into store cages with wooden bars at first, and fed on oats, ^ 
hemp or poppy seed, with meal-worms or maggots ; after- | ^ 
wards they may have bread-crumbs, crushed oats, or bar^^' | 
meal ; lean meat, cooked and minced ^ worms, flies, and ' ' 
other insects, with chickweed, lettuce, cress, and cabbage j 
occasionally. They must always be supplied with clean ; 
sand in a saucer to dust them^selves with, and a fresh turf ' ^ 
of grass or clover twice a w-eek, or so. They have very ' 
long claws, which should be carefully cut and attended to. ' 
They are subject to all the diseases which afflict cage birds, i ' 
and yet frequently live many years in confinement. Bech- • 
stein says that the average duration of their life in this state ' 
is eight years, and that they have been known to live as 
long as thirty years. This author speaks of a malady by 
which these birds are frequently attacked, and which shows ■ 
itself by the skin at the root of the beak becoming scabby * ^' 
and yellow ; his remedy for this is abundance of good fooa^ 
especially the second universal paste, varied with ants' eggs, 
worms, and a little green food. He also notices the differ- / 
ence there is in the musical powers of individuals of this 
species, the song of some being much s^yeeter and stronger 
than that of others ; some, again, will continue to sing for 
a much longer period than others. A very curious circum- 
stance connected with the history of this bird in confinement 
1 
