keeps winnowing his wretched wings, and beating his breast against the wires, panting for one-only one-upward flight into the free air. To delude him into the recollection that there are such places as the fields, which he is beginning to forget, they cut what they call a turf—a turf dug up in the vicinity of this smokecanopied Babel of bricks, redolent of all its sooty abominations, and bearing all the marks of the thousands of tons of fuel which are now suffered to escape up our chimneys, and fall down again upon our noses and into our lungs,-tons, which, when our coalmines begin to shrink alarmingly-'tis no laughing matter, the time must come-some future Arnott* will, perhaps too late, enable the public to save, while he, at the same time, bestows upon them the blessing of a pure atmosphere. Well, this abominable lump of dirt is presented to the Sky-lark as a refreshment for his parched feet, longing for the fresh morning dews. Miserable as the winged creature is, he feels that there is something resembling grass under him; and then the fond wretch looks upward and warbles, and expects his mate. Is it possible to see and hear this desecration of instinct unmoved? and yet we endure it every spring, and moreover we have our Society for Preventing Cruelty to Animals. When free, the Sky-lark never sings on the ground: his notes are first heard early in the year, and his song is continued far into the summer. About the end of April or the beginning of May the nest is placed snugly among the corn or herbage, and rests upon the earth. It is framed of the stalks of plants, with an inside lining of fine dried grasses, and contains four or five greenish-white eggs, spotted with brown. The first family is generally ready for mounting into the air by the end of June; and a second brood is usually fully fledged in August. It is most persevering in the great business of incubation; and, if the early nests are taken, will lay on till September. Such "philoprogenitiveness" may account for the swarms that cover the face not only of this but other countries in the autumn and winter, when the fatal net entangles hundreds at a time, and thousands fall a sacrifice to the various engines which are at work to bring them to the poulterer's stall. The duty paid on these victims at Leipsic amounted, when Dr. Latham wrote, to twelve thousand crowns per annum, at a grosch, or twopence halfpenny sterling, for every sixty larks. The first impulse is to regret the sacrifice of so sweet a singer : but if these myriads were left unmolested, what would become of the other species-what would become of the Sky-larks themselves? * We by no means intend to insinuate that the present gifted philosopher is unable to effect this; we believe that he could: but revolutions to be stable should be gradual, or they are apt to end in smoke. Still they must be seen on the board with regret; pretty accompaniments though they be to claret when dressed à la broche, and certainly consolatory when served à la minute or en caisse. The Wood-lark,* if it cannot compete with the Sky-lark in variety of notes, must be allowed to surpass it in the rich and melodious quality of its tone. It sometimes sings on a tree, but its favourite position for exerting its charming powers is in the air, and it may be known to the eye of those whose ear, unaccustomed to distinguish the song of birds, would not detect the difference, by its flight in widely-extended circles; whereas the Sky-lark keeps rising almost perpendicularly in a spiral direction, till it is lost in the clear blue above. The Wood-lark, which is a comparatively scarce bird with us, appears to be much more enduring on the wing than the Sky-lark, and will sometimes continue in the air, soaring to a great height, singing, still singing, for an hour together. It begins to breed early in the season. Colonel Montagu found the nest, which is not unlike that of the Sky-lark, with eggs in it, on the fourth of April. A few fine hairs are sometimes added to the lining, but the situation chosen for it, though on the ground, is more frequently in wild and barren lands, shielded by rank grass, a tuft of furze, or a stunted bush, than in cultivated districts. The eggs, about four in number, are brown, mottled with grey and ash-colour. Unlike the preceding species, the Wood-lark does not assemble in flocks in the winter, but would seem rather to keep together in families of from five to seven. It is a very early songster, and, in favourable weather, will begin its melody soon after Christmas. The Pipits or Tit-larks,† though in many points resembling the true larks, differ so much in others that they have been generically separated. The Meadow Pipit is the most common: its nest is placed on the ground, and the song, which is sweet but short, is not commenced till the bird has attained a considerable elevation in the air, whence, after hovering a little, it descends warbling till it reaches the ground. In captivity, the Meadow Pipit is highly valued by bird-fanciers for its song. There is not much music among the Tit-mice, though the Long-tailed Tit,§ in the spring, warbles a pleasing but low melody near its bottle-shaped nest; and, as the Buntings || hardly deserve the name of song-birds, we pass from them to the other 'finches of the grove." The song of the Bullfinch¶ -we do not *Alauda arborea. Pipit. Anthus aquaticus-Rock or Shore Pipit. Anthus pratensis-Meadow § Parus caudatus Parus-Tomtits. || Emberiza. Pyrrhula vulgaris. mean the low whistle which is its call-note-is of a modest softness and sweetness, but murmured in such an under-tone as to require a close proximity to the bush whence it proceeds to make the ear aware of it. Its docility in learning to whistle tunes in captivity is well known; and those who have once possessed a musical pet of this description will know how to "share Maria's grief" for the loss of her favourite. Numbers of these performers are imported annually from Germany, where there are regular schools for teaching them*. The thick underwood, or a low close-leaved tree, is most frequently selected for the nest, which is made of small sticks, and lined with a few root fibres : the four or five bluish-white eggs are spotted with pale orangebrown. The Greenfinch or Green Linnett, though not gifted with many natural notes, is prized in confinement for its facility in acquiring those of other birds. It soon becomes familiar with its mistress, and has been known to make free with the soft delicate downy hair on the back of her snowy neck, probably prompted to this rape of the lock by the instinct which urged the poor bird to prepare materials for a nest which was never to be built. In a state of nature, the thick hedge, close bush, or impervious ivy, hides the nest of moss and wool lined with fine hair and feathers, which is seldom complete before the end of May or beginning of June, and the four or five bluish-white eggs are speckled with light orange-brown. The common Brown Linnet's "lay of love," though not long, is very sweet; this bird, from the changes in its plumage consequent on the seasons, has lost its individuality with some authors, and has been described, according to the state of its dress, as the Linnet or Grey Linnet and the Greater Redpole. A bush of furze is a favourite place for the nest, which is framed of interwoven moss, grass, stalks, and wool, lined with hair and feathers; the eggs, amounting to four or five, are bluish-white, mottled with purple-red. We now come to one of the most common of our English birds, the Chaffinch§, whose song seems as much neglected in England as it is worshipped on the continent. Not that there are no instances of its melody being prized with us, and indeed as much as five guineas have been given for one with an uncommon note; but with the Thuringian, the admiration of the Chaffinch's song becomes a passion. He will travel miles if he hear of the arrival *There are some of these academies in Hesse and Fulda, and at Waltershausen. + Loxia Chloris, Linn.-Fringilla Chloris, Temm. Fringilla cannabina. § Fringilla Cœlebs. of a wild one with a good note from a neighbouring country, and will sell his cow to possess it. He has created a set of terms to designate the eight different "songs" which his ear has detected, and, when he obtains a bird that sings the best of these in perfection, hardly any price will tempt him to part with it. To procure a good Chaffinch, a common workman will deprive himself almost of necessaries till he has saved the money which is to make him happy by the possession of his favourite songster. The Thuringian Fanatico carries his admiration to an excess that would be incredible if Bechstein had not given the details with a most amusing fidelity, describing at length all the songs, from the Double Trill of the Hartz, the Reiterzong, and the Wine-song, to the Pithia or Trewethia. To his interesting and well-translated book we refer those who are curious in tracing such phenomena of the human mind: the passion for the rare varieties of the Chaffinch's song appears to be, with reference to the ear, what the Tulip mania was, and, indeed, in great measure, is, with regard to the eye. : The nest of the Chaffinch in this country is a masterpiece of art in the fork of some ancient apple-tree, venerable with mosses and lichens (which are carefully collected for the outside of the symmetrical fabric so as to make it assimilate with surrounding objects), this fine piece of workmanship of closely-interwoven wool and moss is fixed: feathers and hair render the inside a soft, warm, cozy bed for four or five bluish-white pink-tinged eggs, which are variegated with spots and streaks of impurpled red. The love-note of the cock Chaffinch is heard almost as soon as that of the Blackbird; for the species is very early in preparing for the hopes of the year. The débonnaire Goldfinch* builds one of the most elegant nests that our English Finches produce: moss, lichens, wool, and dry grass, artistically intertwined form the outside of the fabric, which is generally hidden in a quiet orchard or secluded garden, where, in the midst of some evergreen-an arbutus perchance-it is protected from the prying eye by the compact, leafy screen of the well-grown, healthy shrub: the delicate down of willows, or dwarf early-seeding plants, the choicest lamb's wool and the finest hair, form the warm lining on which the bluish-white eggs, dotted with a few rich brown spots, are deposited. The beautiful plumage and sweetly-varied song of the Goldfinch make it a great favourite; hence it is frequently consigned to captivity, and taught to draw its water in a little fairy bucket, or to perform tricks, some of which have quite a theatrical air: a looking many * Carduelis communis-Fringilla Carduelis, Linn. glass is frequently provided for it, and, from the solace which the mirror affords to the bird, it has been supposed to be the vainest of finches. Let us not, however, be too sure that all this ogling of the reflected form is mere admiration of its own sweet person. Pause, fair lady, before you pronounce this bird to be a little coxcomb. The plumage of the sexes is very nearly similar, the hues of the female being only rather less brilliant, and the prisoner daily deludes himself that the mate which he is doomed never to see is come to visit him. Most affectionate in disposition, it seems absolutely necessary to the Goldfinch's existence that he should have something to love. The translator of Bechstein's little book above alluded to informs us that Madame had one that never saw her depart without making every effort to quit his cage and follow her; her return was welcomed with every mark of delight; she approached -a thousand winning gestures testified his pleasure; she presented her finger, and it was caressed with low and joyous murmurs: "this attachment," continues the narrator, was so exclusive, that, if his mistress, to prove it, substituted another person's finger for her own, he would peck it sharply, whilst one of his mistress's, placed between two of this person's, would be immediately distinguished and caressed*." The finches are, for the most part, granivorous : it is not to be supposed, however, that they do not occasionally feed on caterpillars, especially in the early part of the year; but seeds form their staple, and some are of opinion that the Goldfinch never touches insects; but we now turn to a group of singing-birds whose nourishment is principally derived from those animals. The Stone-chatt pours forth its varied and pretty song as it hovers over the golden furze which contains its nest; and the Pied Wagtail, a resident in the southern counties of England, warbles to its mate very early in the year from the cattle-shed or the garden-wall, though it is more familiar to us as it runs along the grass-plat or by the margin of the pond, capturing its insectfood. The scarce Dartford Warbler§, like the Stone-chat, utters its hurried trill on the open downs, generally while hovering over the furze, in which it hides itself on the slightest alarm. The familiar Hedge-sparrow|| cheers us with its agreeable song at a very early period of the year, when bird-music is scarce. * " Cage Birds, &c., by J. M. Bechstein, with notes by the translator; small 8vo. London: Orr and Smith. + Saxicola rubicola. § Sylvia provincialis. Motacilla alba. |