[1] _Le Laquais_, from the _Ragazzo_ of Ludovico Dolce; _La Veuve_,
from the _Vedova_ of Nicolo Buonaparte; _Les Esprits_, from the
_Aridosio_ of Lorenzino de Medicis; _Le Morfondu_, from the _Gelosia_
of Antonio Grazzini; _Les Jaloux_, from the _Gelosi_ of Vincent
Gabbiani; and _Les Escolliers_, from the _Cecca_ of Girolamo Razzi,
in the first volume; and in the second, _Constance_, from the
_Costanza_ of Razzi; _Le Fidèle_, from the _Fedele_ of Luigi
Pasqualigo; and _Les Tromperies_, from the _Inganni_ of N. Secchi.
LARK (O. Eng. _láwerce_, Ger. _Lerche_, Dan. _Laerke_, Dutch
_Leeuwerik_), a bird's name used in a rather general sense, the specific
meaning being signified by a prefix, as skylark, titlark, woodlark. It
seems to be nearly conterminous with the Latin _Alauda_ as used by older
authors; and, though this was to some extent limited by Linnaeus,
several of the species included by him under the genus he so designated
have long since been referred elsewhere. By Englishmen the word lark,
used without qualification, almost invariably means the skylark, _Alauda
arvensis_, which, as the best-known and most widely spread species
throughout Europe, has been invariably considered the type of the genus.
Of all birds it holds unquestionably the foremost place in English
literature. It is one of the most favourite cage birds, as it will live
for many years in captivity, and, except in the season of moult, will
pour forth its thrilling song many times in an hour for weeks or months
together. The skylark is probably the most plentiful of the class in
western Europe. Not only does it frequent almost all unwooded districts
in that quarter of the globe, but, unlike most birds, its numbers
increase with the spread of agricultural improvement. Nesting chiefly in
the growing corn, its eggs and young are protected in a great measure
from molestation; and, as each pair of birds will rear several broods in
the season, their produce on the average may be set down as at least
quadrupling the original stock--the eggs in each nest varying from five
to three. Young larks leave their birthplace as soon as they can shift
for themselves. When the stubbles are cleared, old and young congregate
in flocks.
In Great Britain in the autumn they give place to others coming from
more northerly districts, and then as winter succeeds in great part
vanish, leaving but a tithe of the numbers previously present. On the
approach of severe weather great flocks arrive from the continent of
Europe. On the east coast of both Scotland and England this immigration
has been noticed as occurring in a constant stream for as many as three
days in succession. Farther inland the birds are observed "in numbers
simply incalculable," and "in countless hundreds." In these migrations
enormous numbers are netted for the markets, but the rate of
reproduction is so rapid, and the conditions of life so favourable in
Europe that there is no reason to fear any serious diminution in the
numbers of the species.
The skylark's range extends across the Old World from the Faeroe to the
Kurile Islands. In winter it occurs in North China, Nepal, the Punjab,
Persia, Palestine, Lower Egypt and Barbary. It sometimes strays to
Madeira, and has been killed in Bermuda, though its unassisted
appearance there is doubtful. It has been successfully introduced on
Long Island, in the state of New York, into Hawaii and into New
Zealand--in which latter it has become as troublesome a denizen as are
some other subjects upon which acclimatization societies have exercised
their activity.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--A, _Alauda agrestis_; B, _Alauda arvensis_.]
Allied to the skylark a considerable number of species have been
described, of which perhaps a dozen may be deemed valid, besides a
supposed local race, _Alauda agrestis_, the difference between which and
the normal bird is shown in the annexed woodcut (fig. 1), kindly lent to
this work by H. E. Dresser, in whose _Birds of Europe_ it is described
at length. These are found in various parts of Africa and Asia.
The woodlark, _Lullula arborea_, is a much more local and, therefore, a
far less numerous bird than the skylark, from which it may be easily
distinguished by its finer bill, shorter tail, more spotted breast and
light superciliary stripe. Though not actually inhabiting woods, as its
common name might imply, it is seldom found far from trees. Its song
wants the variety and power of the skylark's, but has a resonant
sweetness peculiarly its own. The bird, however, requires much care in
captivity. It has by no means so wide a range as the skylark, and
perhaps the most eastern locality recorded for it is Erzerum, while its
appearance in Egypt and even in Algeria must be accounted rare.
Not far removed from the foregoing is a group of larks characterized by
a larger crest, a stronger and more curved bill, a rufous lining to the
wings, and some other minor features. This group has been generally
termed _Galerita_, and has for its type the crested lark, the _Alauda
cristata_ of Linnaeus, a bird common enough in parts of France and some
other countries of the European continent, and one which has been
obtained several times in the British Islands. Many of the birds of this
group frequent the borders if not the interior of deserts, and such as
do so exhibit a more or less pale coloration, whereby they are
assimilated in hue to that of their haunts. The same characteristic may
be observed in several other groups--especially those known as belonging
to the genera _Calandrella_, _Ammomanes_ and _Certhilauda_, some species
of which are of a light sandy or cream colour. The genus last named is
of very peculiar appearance, presenting in some respects an
extraordinary resemblance to the hoopoes, so much so that the first
specimen described was referred to the genus _Upupa_, and named _U.
alaudipes_. The resemblance, however, is merely one of analogy.
[Illustration: FIG. 2.--A, Lullula arborea; B, _Certhilauda_.]
[Illustration: FIG. 3.--A, _Melanocorypha calandra_; B, _Rhamphocorys
clot-bey_.]
There is, however, abundant evidence of the susceptibility of the
Alaudine structure to modification from external circumstances--in other
words, of its plasticity; and perhaps no homogeneous group of _Passeres_
could be found which better displays the working of natural selection.
Almost every character that among Passerine birds is accounted most sure
is in the larks found subject to modification. The form of the bill
varies in an extraordinary degree. In the woodlark (fig. 2, A), already
noticed, it is almost as slender as a warbler's; in _Ammomanes_ it is
short; in _Certhilauda_ (fig. 2, B) it is elongated and curved; in
_Pyrrhulauda_ and _Melanocorypha_ (fig. 3, A) it is stout and finchlike;
while in _Rhamphocorys_ (fig. 3, B) it is exaggerated to an extent that
surpasses almost any Fringilline form, exceeding in its development that
found in some members of the perplexing genus _Paradoxornis_, and even
presenting a resemblance to the same feature in the far-distant
_Anastomus_--the tomia of the maxilla not meeting those of the mandibula
along their whole length, but leaving an open space between them. The
hind claw, generally greatly elongated in larks, is in _Calandrella_
(fig. 4) and some other genera reduced to a very moderate size. The
wings exhibit almost every modification, from the almost entire abortion
of the first primary in the skylark to its considerable development
(fig. 5), and from tertials and scapulars of ordinary length to the
extreme elongation found in the _Motacillidae_ and almost in certain
_Limicolae_. The most constant character indeed of the _Alaudidae_ would
seem to be that afforded by the _podotheca_ or covering of the tarsus,
which is scutellate behind as well as in front, but a character easily
overlooked.[1]
[Illustration: FIG. 4.--_Calandrella brachydactyla_.]
[Illustration: FIG. 5.--A, _Alauda arborea_; B, _Certhilauda_; C,
_Melanocorypha calandra_.]
In the Old World larks are found in most parts of the Palaearctic,
Ethiopian and Indian regions; but only one genus, _Mirafra_, inhabits
Australia, where it is represented by, so far as is ascertained, a
single species, _M. horsfieldi_; and there is no true lark indigenous to
New Zealand. In the New World there is also only one genus, _Otocorys_,
where it is represented by many races, some of which closely approach
the Old World shore-lark, _O. alpestris_. The shore-lark is in Europe a
native of only the extreme north, but is very common near the shores of
the Varanger Fjord, and likewise breeds on mountain-tops farther
south-west, though still well within the Arctic circle. The mellow tone
of its call-note has obtained for it in Lapland a name signifying
"bell-bird," and the song of the cock is lively, though not very loud.
The bird trustfully resorts to the neighbourhood of houses, and even
enters the villages of East Finmark in search of its food. It produces
at least two broods in the season, and towards autumn migrates to lower
latitudes in large flocks. These have been observed in winter on the
east coast of Great Britain, and the species instead of being regarded,
as it once was, in the light of an accidental visitor to the United
Kingdom, must now be deemed an almost regular visitor, though in very
varying numbers. The observations on its habits made by Audubon in
Labrador have long been known, and often reprinted. Other congeners of
this bird are the _O. penicillata_ of south-eastern Europe, Palestine
and central Asia--to which are referred by H. E. Dresser (_B. Europe_,
iv. 401) several other forms originally described as distinct. All these
birds, which have been termed horned larks, from the tuft of elongated
black feathers growing on each side of the head, form a little group
easily recognized by their peculiar coloration, which calls to mind some
of the ringed plovers, _Aegialitis_.
The name of lark is also frequently applied to many birds which do not
belong to the _Alaudidae_ as now understood. The mud-lark, rock-lark,
tit-lark and tree-lark are pipits (q.v.). The grasshopper-lark is one of
the aquatic warblers (q.v.), while the so-called meadow-lark of America
is an Icterus (q.v.). Sand-lark and sea-lark are likewise names often
given to some of the smaller members of the _Limicolae_. Of the true
larks, _Alaudidae_, there may be perhaps about one hundred species, and
it is believed to be a physiological character of the family that they
moult but once in the year, while the pipits, which in general
appearance much resemble them, undergo a double moult, as do others of
the _Motacillidae_, to which they are most nearly allied. (A. N.)