weather, and at this time they do a considerable amount of
damage to the autumn-sown wheat, if the ground be free
from snow, and to such green crops as they may find.* The
return of the emigrant hosts in spring has been noticed, hut
not by many observers, and doubtless there are comparatively
few survivors of the perils of the outward voyage.
In the literature of our country the Skylark unquestionably
holds the foremost place. There is hardly a British
poet or poetaster who has not made it his theme, and a
volume might be filled with extracts describing or alluding
to its habits, its marvellous power of song especially, while,
from the prevalence of the species and the way in which it
thrusts itself on observation, these passages are generally
far more truthful than most productions of a muse-inspired
fancy. Several gifted writers of prose have equally celebrated
the Skylark’s qualities in words not less expressive
and beautiful, but to the multitude there is perhaps another
reason why it is the one of the best known of the feathered
tribes. From the number of male Skylarks sold for cage-
birds and the high price which the best songsters among
them command, various means are used to entrap them,
yet it is rather the excellence of the species for the table, its
abundance and the ease with which it is taken that form the
great incentive to the Lark-catclier. Out of the vast flocks
which as already mentioned assemble in autumn, thousands
are caught by dragging nets over the stubbles and fallows at
night, and by day even more are enticed by a call-bird within
the reach of clap-nets. Hundreds are also snared in time
of snow; while, during the “ flight” , scores are uselessly
shot, attracted by a piece of wood beset with bits of looking-
glass, and made to revolve rapidly. The glittering of this
simple engine is perhaps, as Mr. Knox has suggested to the
Editor, mistaken for the gleam of running water by the
* The silly practice of destroying Larks by means of poisoned grain scattered
over the fields, which a few years ago was becoming general, has been very properly
stopped by the legislature. At that time of year it could have no appreciable
effect on their numbers, and was either dangerous to human life or else a
mere waste of good food, for the birds had far better have been netted and eaten.
birds; but whether this be the right explanation of the
matter or not, the fatal result of the fascination thereby
exercised upon them is undeniable. At this time they are
lean, but soon after, and even during moderate frost, they
are in good case, the cold possibly checking cutaneous
transpiration, and inducing a deposit of fat ; though should
long-continued and severe frost supervene, or snow cover the
ground, the condition of those that remain with us is soon
altered for the worse ; but even in the hardest of times a
few seem to pick up a living, albeit they may have to settle
in the streets of towns to find it, as, according to Gilbert
White, they did in the remarkable frost of January 1776.*'
* Dunstable was formerly famous for its Larks for the table. In England
these birds are commonly eaten after being simply roasted, but in France such
plain cookery is deemed insufficient. Pâtés de mauviettes (for which see M.
Jules Gouffé’s ‘Livre de Patisserie’, p. 76) have been made at Pitbiviers for
over three hundred years, and though these, from their name, would seem to have
been originally composed of Thrushes, Larks have long been almost exclusively
used for the purpose. Nowadays the main stream of northern traffic having
been diverted from Dunstable, where Pennant a century since put the yearly
capture at 48,000, its fame rather rests on its straw-work than its Larks, and
perhaps Brighton enjoys the credit of consuming more Larks than any other
place in England except London. Dr. Wynter, in 1854, estimated those annually
entering the metropolitan markets alone at 400,000—20,000 or 30,000 being
often sent together, and the numbers eaten elsewhere in the country must be
enormous, quite as large indeed as abroad. The Editor has been obligingly informed
by Messrs. Baily and Son, the eminent poulterers of Mount Street, that
the bulk of those forwarded to London is worthless, and consequently the average
price cannot be put higher than Is. 3d. the dozen, which however would produce
from Dr. Wynter’s estimate more than £2,000 per annum. Mr. Gray quotes an
official return of the authorities a t Dieppe stating that, during the winter of
1867-68, 1,255,500 Larks were taken into that town, the value of which in
English money may be reckoned at £2,260. In the German towns Larks are or
were subject to duty which Latham, quoting Keysler, says used to produce at
Leipzig, where it was 2l2d. on 60, above £900 a year, shewing that 5,184,000
were annually received in th a t city. Stupendous as is this number, it is rendered
more credible by Bechstein’s statement that 404,304 Larks were brought thither
in one month of the year 1720, and Naumann says that the excise lists shew
that over 500,000 Larks were, when he wrote (1824), supplied to the same place
in the month of October. These are chiefly caught in Anhalt or near Halle,
Merseburg and other open parts of Saxony, while even more were sent to Berlin,
Hamburg and elsewhere than to Leipzig, besides those that were consumed in
the small towns of the district. The Editor is informed by Dr. Baldamus that
chiefly through his efforts this traffic has almost ceased within the last few years.