Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1891-02-06
SKYLARK OF FICTION.
he is NO SUCH SINGER OR SoARER AS
THE WORLD HAS BELIEVED.
So at Least, an Ornith o'ogist Has Dis
covered-Tbe Nightingale Is Not
Quite so Overrated u Warbler.

much better known than the birds
themselves.
The skyark of fiction. saws cosre-
spondeut in the n. Y. Eceaing Post,
IN Lucerne Switzerland, it may be
well To state. is "A songster of SUR
passing ability, whose habitual station
while singing is 10 IL point sufficiently
above the earth's surface TO render him
invisible to the naked eve. His music
descends rs ii from heaven itself
challenging the admiration of the
densest codhopper, and lifting the cu-
tured soul 10 dizzy heights of senti-
ment.
The real skylark has, indeed. the
habit of singing on the wing; doubt
less he sometimes mounts high enough
to become invisible; there is good evil
dence to that effect. But he certainly
prefers to he within easy optical range.
Though | do not myself profess to have
acquired a perfect familiarity with his
habits. | have studied him in
many parts of Europe; have
watched him patiently, sympathet-
icaly, hopefully for hours ut time.
and never have known him TO reach
an altitude ut which he could not be
SttH pldlblN Nv dhN utlludl tNt. MOic
than this, he delights to sing upon the
ground. Very often. indeed, when "A
careless demonstrating in mind the
lark of fiction believes him out of
sight in the sky, he is to be found in
some fayorite spot a-perch.
The lark possesses voice of medi-
ocre quality. and produces song far
inferior to those of many other birds.
At best his music is canary like; at
worst it is positively insectile Dis
lance does not enhance its effect. On
the contrary the farther away the sing
ing bird. the harsher and shriller his
performance.
But let me do the lark justice. He
is one of the most CHEEKY aud indefati-
gable OF bird singers. Be it fair or
foul. be it sultry or chill his str.dulous
notes may be heard from morning till
night in the season. | have seen him
eXulting over snow-covered fields in
Switzerland when June had suddenly
produced day with the characteristics
of Decem ber-as heartily and persist
emily AS if he had looked down upon
the greenest meadows aed the gayest
flowers. Such thoroughgoing optim-
ism has a charm of its own; and one
listens 10 the lark with approval ana
pleasure in spite of his musical det-
ciencics.
Need it be said that the nightingale
Of fiction is the Incompatible songsler,
who through all the hours of daylight
turks perdu. silent melancholy. but in
the depths of night transcends imagi-
natioa with his melody? On the morning
of May 3 | was walking in the park OF
/ Vincenues. with an eye TO the birds.
Not far from the old chateau | was
brought 10 stop 10y a loud thrush
like song, which came from thcket
at a distance of half-a-dozen PAGES. l
did not know the song, and | drew my
feld-glass out OF its case and took up
position behind the nearest tree in the
hope of Identifying the musician. His
strain was at once repeated. | noted
that it was quite complicated, and That
il was delivered with much boldness
and decisions; but it did not impress me
rs being of unusual excellence. Yet,
moment later, rs the singer desceud-
ed To the ground just before me to
secure tidbit that had caught his eve.
| discovered that | had been listening
To- nightingale. The bird saw me at
! the same instant. and. with short.
| cultural note Of alarm. disappeared in
| his thicket. | waited attendance upon
his pleasure for some tine afterward
/ but in vain; he neither showed himself
again nor favored me with another
song.
walked many kilometers about Vim
cennes that dav. aud found several
] ., liza - I,f. if- a
aries. all OF them more or less tune'ul.
no one of them the accomplished singer
! was prepared to hear. Two days later
1 ! had a similar experience at St. Cloud.
! But told myself that / must hear the
! bird ut night before should be coppe-
tent to pass Judgment upon his a6lli-
ties, and on the 7th of May | went out
! from Paris to the Forest of st. Ger
man en- Lave, to that end.
Ii was a fine morning and a hot one
upon which | entered the forest. At
high noon when / first heard the song
of Daulias luscinia the local Their
mometers must have indicated tenn
perature of about so degrees in the
shade. Nevertheless, that same first song
was one of the best | have ever heard
produced by any nightingale under any
circumstance really delightful out
pouring rivaling in its ardor the love-
songs of the bobolnk andi the purple
| finch. 1t was an admirable perform
ance but it was not by any means a
matchess one. | felt that it was rich
" worth hearing again. 1t was not re-
peated. however. Aud during the next
four hours and half, though tramp
ed about persistentlv. | heard o.ly oc-
casional distant aud fragmeutary songs
by the nightingale.
The attempt has often been made to
indicate by syllabication the character
of the nightingale's song but never with
success. me judice. He executes so
rapidly. so audaciously, and with such
frequent variation of theme. that a
listener must be clever indeed to out
line in the crudest manner any one of
his longer airs: and no arrangement of
his syllables, however accurate. can
convey an idea of the peculiar, clarinet
like richness of the birds voice. 1t
might ne the voice of an oriole, or of a
Ii. a. 81 e.,,