VOICES OF BIRDS. 
185 
j contending songsters of the grove, and the variety of 
sound proceeding from every thing that has utterance, 
confuse and almost render inaudible the placid voice 
of the woodlark. It delights to fix its residence near 
J little groves and copses, or quiet pastures, and is a very 
j unobtrusive bird, not uniting in companies, but associ- 
ating in its own little family parties only, feeding in the 
woodlands on seeds and insects. Upon the approach of 
man it crouches dose to the ground, then suddenly 
darts away, as if for a distant flight, but settles again 
almost immediately. This lark will often continue its 
song, circle in the air, a scarcely visible speck, by the 
hour together; and the vast distance from which its 
voice reaches us in a calm day is almost incredible. In 
the scale of comparison, it stands immediately below 
the nightingale in melody and plaintiveness ; but com- 
pass of voice is given to the linnet, a bird of very in- 
ferior powers. The strength of the larynx and of the 
muscles of the throat in birds is infinitely greater than 
in the human race. The loudest shout of the peasant 
is but a feeble cry, compared with that of the golden- 
eyed duck, the wild goose, or even this lark. The sweet 
song of this poor little bird, with a fate like that of 
the nightingale, renders it an object of capture and 
confinement, which few of them comparatively survive. 
I have known our country birdcatchers take them by a 
very simple' but effectual method. Watching them to 
the ground, the wings of a hawk, or of the brown owl, 
stretched out, are drawn against the current of air by a 
string, as a paper kite, and made to flutter and librate 
like a kestrel over the place where the woodlark has 
lodged ; which so intimidates the bird that it remains 
crouching and motionless as a stone on the ground ; a 
hand-net is brought over it, and it is caught. 
From various little scraps of intelligence scattered 
through the sacred and ancient writings, it appears cer- 
tain, as it was reasonable to conclude, that the notes 
now used by birds, and the voices of animals/ are the 
same as uttered by their earliest progenitors. The lan- 
guage of man, without any reference to the confusion 
accomplished at Babel, has been broken into innumera- 
Q 2 
