THE SKYLARK. 
about two inches from the surface of the ground. Scatter 
oats or other grain about your nooses, and the hungry larks, 
in seeking to pick it up, will find themselves held captive by 
the treacherous horsehair. 
The wholesale way of catching larks is by a net, called a 
“ trammel.” It is about thirty-six yards long, and eight yards 
wide. At each side of the net there is a pole, while the extre- 
mity of the net is so weighted as to drag close to the ground. 
This can only be worked on dark nights, when the birds are at 
roost. The men holding the poles and raising the front of the 
net, tramp forward ; if they (the bird-catchers) are lucky, all 
the birds roosting within the course dragged by the net are 
captured. The most favourite and secure way to work the 
trammel -net is by the help of two horses ; the men who hold 
the poles, hold each a horse by the bridle, so that the footfall 
of the animals may drown theirs. The poor larks, hearing only 
the footsteps of the horses, and having no fear of them, doze on, 
and are thus cheated and captured. The worst part of this 
sport is, that while conveying the poor birds — all in the dark — 
through the meshes of the nest to the store-cage, great numbers 
of them get crushed to death. This, however, is a matter of 
indifference to the trammel-worker ; the birds he catches are not 
for the cage, but the gridiron ! However people can eat larks 
is a wonder to me. I declare, whenever I happen to pass a 
poulterer’s, and see the announcement “ larks ready for the spit,” 
I feel much the same horror and indignation as I should, were 
I to see written up, “ ready trussed babies may be had here.” 
To Bear Skylark Nestlings. — If you have any intention 
of bringing up nestling skylarks, you may take them from the 
nest about the first week in June, as they will by that time 
probably have tail feathers of nearly an inch long. It is a bad 
plan to take the nestlings less fledged than this. You may 
easily distinguish the male from the female birds, by the former 
being nearly yellow, while the latter is greyish-brown. Bor 
the first day or two the food of the nestlings should be bread 
sopped in milk, and poppy-seeds steeped in warm milk till they 
are soft. A few ants’ eggs occasionally will bring them on 
famously. They should be fed regularly and moderately every 
two hours, from daylight till dark. Bear in mind, that the 
young lark is accustomed to take his breakfast at about three 
o’clock in the morning, and if you want him to thrive, you must 
administer his first meal as soon after that as possible. 
When the nestlings have been in confinement three or four 
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