Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1881-06-08
THE sox0 Or THE sRxLARK,

Heard in all Its Sweetness by
Residents Of New Jersey-The
English Birds TnIr6duced.Their
Habits and Action In their New
H0me-Other Rare Foreign
Birds Here.
The recent attempt to acclimatize
the Engligh skylark in this country,
bids fair to be the most successful
effort vet made in that direction. Of
the 200 b~irds.shipped in December to
Mr.. 1. W. England, IT'S were received
in New York. Fifty of these escaped
on their way to Mr.. England's place
in Ridgewood, N. j., and others died
from cold and exhaustion.
The survivors we're taken in charge
by Mr.. Hales and, with careful feeding
and housing, we're garfield through
the winter. About the LIST of May
seventy-tour healthy birds were set
free on the lawn. Fifty of them kept
together In a close flock. The rest
scattered. They did not mount up
and sing at the first taste of freedom,
but devoured their attention to their
physical wants. The buzzing insects,
the enticing worms, and the tender
young growing grain we're tidbits too
appetizing to be resisted, and for a few
days there was strict attention to bus
mess.
Would the larks sing? That was
the question of great interest. A note
from Mr.. Hales a few days after their
release settled it. He wrote: Here
it is! The same delightful sound that
has inspired so many poets and
charmed the Old World for ages. As
pure and sweet as in his native gray
sky. No one who has ever heard the
shrill, trilling notes, not loud but
very distinct, will ever forget it or fail
to know it.
After a few days enjoyment Of the
sweets Of liberty the birds set about
housekeeping. They stole away by
pairs in the fields, and began nest
building. The males became more
aud more vocal, and scared aloft
| above their setting mates and poured
forth their sweet strains. The nests
hidden in the grass or grain were not
easily discovered, but some Of them
were found. They contained four or
FIVE freckled eggs of a greenish gray
cast. Like other nests placed on the
ground. some of them had been visited
by cats or other predatory animals, but
in other cases the egg have gone safely
through the process of incubation, aud
the young larks, real American born
skylarks, have appeared. There is no
question that the youngsters will take
care of themselves, and barring acct
dents common to all birdliDgs, reach
maturity.
The crucial test will come with the
winter. Will the larks migrate TO
warmer climes and come back another
season, or will they stay and perish
with cold? These are questions that
time will answer. That the country
about Ridgewood, in fact, nearly all
of that part of New Jersey contigoous
to New York, is well adapted for sky
larks, there is no doubt. Mr.. Reiche,
the bird importer, who has released
thousand of foreign song birds in the
vicinity Of New York in the past quar-
ter af century, says that the country
along the Hackensaok valley is almost
the exact counterpart of the great
meadows Of Holland which are inhab-
tied by millions Of skylarks, and he
believes that if the bird could be pro-
tected from hunters, they would multi
ply and increase in New Jersey until
they became as common as in the Old
World. A lot of skylarks that were
freed in Brooklyn many years ago, for
several winters, it is said migrated
only as far as Staten Island, and were
gradually killed off. Mr. Reiche be-
lieves that the arksintroduced in this
country will spend their winters fur
Their south. He says that he is salts
fed hat the larks of England and
northern Europe, or the greater mum
Der Of them, go to Italy to winter. He
has seen myriads Of them in that oOun-
try, where they are eaten by the inhab-
itants. He has no doubt that they
are the birds form northern attitudes.