Mode of Taking.—It would take too long a time to describe all the modes of catching larks which are in use. It is enough to say that with day and night nets, known by the name of lark nets, so large a number of these birds are taken alive in the open country, that it is easy to have a choice of both males and females. This lark snaring is accomplished by placing a considerable number of nets perpendicularly like walls, which are called day-nets, towards which, in the dusk, the birds are forced by means of a long rope, which is drawn along the ground, and drives them forward; in the night a square net called a night-net is carried to a spot where it is known that many larks are collected in the stubble, and there they are covered just when they begin to flutter.
If, in the spring, it is wished to procure a good singing male, for some are better than others, a lark whose wings are tied, and with a little forked lime-twig fixed to its back, must be carried to the place where such a bird is to be found. As soon as it is let loose, and the desired male has perceived it from high in the air, he will fall upon it like an arrow and attack it; but soon, the dupe of his jealousy, he will find himself caught by the lime.
Attractive Qualities.—The very pleasing song of the sky-lark consists of several stanzas or strains, composed entirely of trills and flourishes, interrupted from time to time by loud whistling. I have already said that the lark has great abilities for learning. The young readily imitate the notes of all the birds in the same room with them, and the old sometimes succeed also: this, however, is not general; for among birds as among men, memories vary in power. Some have a stronger and more melodious voice; there are some which, in confinement, begin to sing as early as December, and continue till they moult; while others, less lively, delay till the month of March, and cease to sing in the month of August. In its wild state, the lark begins to sing in the first fine days of spring, the season of pairing, and ceases at the end of July; this, however, is not without exceptions, as some individuals continue till the end of September. It belongs to the small number of birds which sing as they fly, and the higher it rises the more it appears to elevate its voice, so that it may be heard when it is out of sight. In the country, it very seldom sings when on the ground; in the room it often does, and with ease, and it becomes so tame as to come and eat from the table or the hand.
THE CRESTED LARK.
Alauda cristata, Linnæus; Le Cochevis, ou la grosse Alouette huppée; Die Haubenlerche, Bechstein.
This bird is stronger than the sky-lark, and its colour is lighter, but its length the same. The beak is lead-coloured, and brown at the point, is also rather longer; the iris is dark brown. The shanks are an inch high, and yellowish gray; the head, the cheeks, the upper part of the neck to the upper part of the back, are of a reddish gray, caused by the wide red edges of the feathers, which are brown in the middle; a reddish white line, hardly perceptible above the eyes, but very distinct beyond, extends from the nostrils to the ears; eight or ten long-pointed blackish feathers rising on the head form a beautiful perpendicular crest.
The crest of the female is lower, but her breast is covered with more numerous and rounder spots than the male.
Habitation.—When wild it is only in autumn and winter that they appear in Saxony in small or large flights, beside the high roads, on dunghills, near barns and stables, among sparrows and yellowhammers; they are also found all over Europe, from Sweden to Italy[62]; in summer, they frequent the thickets and bushes of the plains, fields, and meadows, or they inhabit the hollows of ditches, paths in woods, and elevated villages. They depart in October.
In the house they may be kept in cages, like the sky-lark, or be left to run about. I know no bird whose feathers grow so quickly; if the wings are kept clipped, this must be repeated every three or four weeks, as by that time they are so much grown that they may serve for flying about the room.