Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1904-09-20
THE SKYLARK'S SONG
AN ASTONISHING FEAT FROM MANY
POINTS OF. VIEW.

!! AN ASTONISHING FEAT FROM MANY
POINTS OF VIEW. /.
(; Not Alone IL 1t Wonder OF Melody,
Tone and Quality. but Ita Volume
Is Astounding and It. Circumstance
of Utternnce a Physical Marvel.
For it's music alone the song Of the
! lark is almost the most melodious Of
any birds. The tone and quality are
! admirable and the volume Of sound as
tonishing. It can be heard clearly
when the lark has mounted, as 1t
sometimes does, beyond recognition by
normal eyesight. The volume Of sound.
is also most noticeable when a Gagged
lark is heard, singing as it does far
nearer to TIL nearer than the bird in
the sky. Bat apart from the quality
and music of the song the circum-
stances in which it is uttered render
it an astonishing feat.
Every other considerable songster Is
quite aware that singing entails much
physical effort. Consequently it takes
care to secure a good platform to sing
from. A thrush or blackbird or a
robin nearly always selects a top shoot
or projecting bough, preferably dead
one, on which it sits and sings, never
moving it's position, and without any
objects round it to hinder the carry of
its voice. The blackcap and nightin-
gale" and some of the warblers sit in
bush to sing, but the whitethroat
and even the hedge. sparrow choose
the topmost twig. The whitethroat
! sometimes sings when descending, and
some of the pipits and the wood lark
do the same, the meadow pipit singing
q feeble little song as it makes a short
ascent and descent. s. .S + I -. : T.
But to the strain on its lungs of long
protracted song the lark adds the great
muscular exertion Of steady upward
fight, usually carried out not by seal
| Ing the air in gentle circles, as in the
soaring OF the darger birds, but by a
vertical climb made by the incessant
beating of its wings. Wordsworth's
recognition of it as the
| Type OF the wise who soar. but never
True to the kindred points OF heaven and
home. : &,Ss$S# x I'M $5z$,s{5
Is often almost literally correct After
two or three spirals the bird goes up
almost as il it were drawn heavenward
/ by cord, and then, closing its wings,
descends like q falling stone to the
very point from which it rose. The
strain upon the muscles and the lungs
! would be great II during all this time
1t were silent. But it chooses to add
to the exertion Of soaring that OF pour
ing forth a continuous food Of sweet
notes with no intermissions or breaks
i whatever. s:s y S53. q,
"a lark will soar and sing during a
4 space OF ten minutes nsecutiyely. The
rapidly with which the pectoral mus
Icles are working during this period
may be judged from the fact that the
bird makes not less than from five to
six beats Of the wing per second. The
beats are usually in sets Of from three
II t0shve, the bird pausing for moment
Il as n to take fresh start after the
4 Interval. When chased by the merlin
4 falcon skylarks make their finest ex.
I hibitions OF flight, ascending into the
tair to heights which have been esti-
mated as being not less than thou
B sand feet. Sometimes the bird uses
the same means Of ascent as when it Ii
soaring and singing, rising vertically
by incessant beats OF the wing. In the
\ language of the falconer, these are
& termed mounting larks, and theil
object is to outfy the hawk directly
q shaking off its pursuit during the as
4 cent. Others prefer to rise by flying II
q q spiral, which the falcon initiates.
Mr.. e. B. Michel, In his volume 81
''The Art and Practice of Hawking
Il says: ''The one bird may be circlint
from right to left and the other from
left to right. and neither seems to guild.
Z the direction Of Its rings BY any refer
ence to those which the other is max
ing. It is now a struggle to see which
can get up fastest, and It is astonish
ling to see to what q height such fight.
Twill sometimes reach. AS soon as /
|, . lark is 800 feet high It can drop, almos
like stone, into any cover within {
a radius 200 yards from the spot JUS
under It, allowance being made for tn,
s. effect of the wind But 800 feet is no
high for a ringing fight; at least there
ID nothing unusual about it, "a larl
does not go out OF sight until 1t Il
! much above that height, and it is IL
extrao Urinary thing for 1t to do this
The lark seldom sings late in the day
It can be tempted to rise in a burst O
| melody for one final ascent IL the even
Ing sun breaks through the clouds afte
Train. but as rule 1t Is silent Ion,
before the sun has descended into tn,
| western bed OF cloud. We have Nil
toms authority that It Ia up and in SOM
before dawn. But thpse who have
| Heard the lark begin its fight
| And singing startle the dull night
are not easily found, though Id til,
height Of the pairing time It may yer!
possibly be beforehand with aurora ii
!. greeting its mate. But as a rule til,
lark sings ct sunrise, as the ortolal