300 
THE LADIES’ MAGAZINE OF GARDENING. 
and by which they may be known among so many similarly coloured 
birds, is this : when they leave their nest, they fly to the nearest hedge, 
but instead of alighting on the topmost branches as most other birds do, 
they invariably perch on one of the lowest, and there sit musing; but not 
a word escapes their lips. On this account, and the stealthy manner of 
their appearing in public, it may happen that this bird is a nondescript. 
Is it the red lark said to be seen occasionally in Middlesex ? 
The crested lark, a bird somewhat smaller than the sky-lark, said to be 
common in Yorkshire, is unknown in the southern counties; and the 
willow and grasshopper larks described in old books are now found to 
belong to other genera. 
MR. ELLIS’S PLANT-CASE. 
In my last number I gave some account of the plant-cases of Sir John 
Robison; and since that was published I have seen them myself. They 
are very handsome, but the plants, as in all the other cases I have seen, 
appear but dimly through the glass, on which there is a constant and heavy 
steam. In the plant-cases of Mr. Ward, the inventor of the system, this 
steam has raised a kind of moss or lichen, which makes the inside of the 
glass green, and has a very unpleasant appearance. In the plant-cases of 
Sir John Robison and Mr. Ellis there is no green; but the steam is still 
there, and the drops of water obscure the plants. The plant-cases of Mr. 
Ellis, which are very elegant, and which were designed by Mr. James 
M c Nab, are now, in consequence of Mr. Ellis’s death, in the council-room 
of the Caledonian Horticultural Society; and the plants contained in them 
are growing beautifully. 
The following is Mr. Ellis’s own account of his case:— 
u Some gentlemen having expressed an intention of fitting up cases for 
preserving plants, I have requested Mr. M 4 Nab to furnish me not only 
with a copy of his design, but also with a statement of the leading parti¬ 
culars which require to be attended to in the construction. As the 
apparatus was to be placed in the window of a drawing-room, its form 
and dimensions were determined in accordance with that idea. It is com¬ 
posed of three parts: the stand (fig. 72 «), the box (6), and the glass 
roof or cover (c). The stand is one foot ten inches in height; the box, 
eight inches and a half; and the cover, one foot seven inches and a half; 
making the total height four feet two inches. The stand on which the 
box rests is made of mahogany, and supported on four legs, furnished with 
moveable casters. The box contains the soil, and is made of well-seasoned 
