The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1904-11-23

lescends like falling stone to tie
very point from which it rose. The
strain upon the muscles and the lungs
would be great if during all this time
it were silent But it chooses to add
to the excrtion Of soaring that Of pour
ing forth (; continuous food Of sweet
notes with no intermssions or breaks
whatever.
y lark will soar and sing during
space of ten minutes consecutively. The
rapidity with which the pectoral mus
cles 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
to five, the bird pausing for moment
as if to take a fresh start after the
interval. When chased by the merlin
falcon skylarks make their finest ex-
hibitions of flight, ascending into the
air to heights which have been esti-
mated as being not less than a thou
sand feet. Sometimes the bird uses
the same means Of ascent as when it is
soaring and singing, rising vertically
by incessant beats of the wing In the
language of the falconer, these are
termed mounting" larks, and their
object is to outfy the hawk directly,
shaking off its pursuit during the as
cent. Others prefer to rise by flying in
a spiral, which the falcon initiates.
Mr.. z. B. Michell. in his volume on
'The Art and Practice Of Hawking"
says: The one bird may be circling
from right to left and the other from
left to right. and neither seems to guide
the direction of its rings by any refer.
ence to those which the other is max
ing. 1t is now a struggle to see which
can get up fastest, and it is astonish.
ing to see to what height such fights
will sometimes reach. AS soon as a
lark is 800 feet high it can drop, almost
like a stone, into any cover within
radius Of 200 yards from the spot just
under it. allowance being made for the
effect Of the wind. But 800 feet is not
high for ringing fight; at least there
is nothing unusual about it. A lark
does not go out Of sight until it is
much above that height, and it is no
extraordinary thing for it to do this
The lark seldom sings late in the day.
1t can be tempted to rise in a burst OF
melody for one final ascent if the even
ing sun breaks through the clouds after
rain, but as 4 rule it is silent long
before the sun has descended into the
western bed of cloud We have Mil
tons authority that it is up and in so"g
before dawn. But those who have
Heard the lark begin its fight
And singing startle the dull night
are not easily found, though in the
height Of the pairing time it may very
possibly be beforehand with aurora in
greeting it's mate. But as rule the
lark sings at sunrise, as the ortolan
eats Darkness depresses it and keeps
it mute, but CLEAN Of sun is the Sig
nal for N to ascend. Obviously rain
would make it most difficult for it to
soar. both by adding to the weight OF
us body from the moisture caught in
the feathers and by wetting the webs
of the pinions, SO the lark only scars in
the dry as rule. 1t is one OF the most
sensitive and best of natures weather
gauges, for when the larks begin to
sing it is almost certain that rain has
ceased for some time, if not for the
day. 1t is the cock lark which sings.
William Cobbett noted that one was
lust soaring and' beginning to sing
when the hen few up and evidently
told him to stop. for she fetched him
down again-..an instance says Cob
t;ctt. "of that petticoat governmen:
which is universal. London Standard
CMCIMEER,S AS! PIN