The Natural History of Cage Birds: Their Management, Habits, Food, Diseases, Treatment, Breeding, and the Methods of Catching Them.Bechstein, Johann Matthäus
Science
The Natural History of Cage Birds: Their Management, Habits, Food, Diseases, Treatment, Breeding, and the Methods of Catching Them.
Bechstein, Johann Matthäus
Cage birds
Is this produced by a difference in the cleanly dispositions of these
two birds, or is it a constitutional difference?
MODE OF TAKING.--When, in winter, any spot has been remarked which the
larks prefer, a place must be cleared from snow, some oats and
poppy-seed be thrown upon it for a bait, and limed twigs, nets, or
even a simple gauze, be conveniently arranged, and soon plenty will
be caught.
ATTRACTIVE QUALITIES.--The song of the crested lark is, in my opinion,
very inferior to that of the sky-lark; it seems composed of the
warbling of that and of the linnet; this bird sings also in the
night. Its time of singing lasts from February to August, but longer
in those birds which have been tamed from the nest. It has not the
tottering gait of the sky-lark, but runs nimbly, and moves its crest
in the most expressive way. It is rather quarrelsome, and has the
peculiarity that when it fights it continues to sing.
THE WOOD-LARK.
Alauda arborea, LINNÆUS; Le Cujelier, ou L'Alouette des Bois,
ou La Loulou, BUFFON; Die Waldlerche, BECHSTEIN.
This charming species is one-third smaller than the field-lark, and
resembles it much in form and gait. The beak is black above, brown
below, tending to carnation at the tip. The shanks, three quarters of an
inch high, are of a brownish flesh-colour. The top of the head is
reddish brown, with four dark brown lines; its long feathers render the
head large, and they may be raised at pleasure into a crest, which from
eye to eye is surrounded by a whitish ash-coloured line. The tail is
very short.
The female, more beautiful, is of a paler ground, with darker ornaments;
her breast more spotted; the crest on her head more prominent, and the
line round the cheeks more distinct. It is a well attested observation
made on all our indigenous species, that the individuals with the most
spots on a lighter ground, and of a clearer white, are certainly
females.
HABITATION.--When wild these birds inhabit the temperate regions of
Europe, in summer the woods of the plain, near fields and meadows,
and in the woods of the hills they alternate between heaths and
pasture lands. After breeding time they assemble in small flocks of
ten or twelve. They are thus found in the stubble, at their departure
in October, and their return in March.
In the house I prefer letting them run about, because my experience
shows that they sing better in this way than when caged. They must be
well supplied with river sand, as well to roll and dust themselves as
to pick out grains necessary for their digestion.
FOOD.--When wild, in summer, the food consists of insects; in autumn,
of rape, millet, seed, and oats; in spring, before they can find
insects and worms, they are satisfied with the young buds of herbs,
water-cresses, and, on an emergency, with the buds of the filbert.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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