or LARK, in ornithology, a genus of birds of the order of passerines; the characters of which are these: The beak is cylindrical, subulated, straight; and the two mandibles or chaps are of equal size. The tongue is bifid, and the hinder claw is straight, and longer than the toe. There are nine species of the alauda. 1. The arvensis, or common sky-lark. This and the wood-lark are the only birds that sing as they fly; this raising its note as it soars, and lowering it till it quite dies away as it descends. It will often soar to such a height, that we are charmed with the music when we lose sight of the songster; it also begins its song before the earliest dawn. Milton, in his Allegro, most beautifully expresses these circumstances; and bishop Newton observes, that the beautiful scene that Milton exhibits of rural cheerfulness, at the same time gives us a fine picture of the regularity of his life, and the innocence of his own mind: thus he describes himself as in a situation

To hear the lark begin his flight, And singing startle the dull night, From his watch-tow'r in the skies, Till the dappled dawn doth rise.

It continues its harmony several months, beginning early in the spring, on pairing. In the winter they assemble in vast flocks, grow very fat, and are taken in great numbers for our tables. They build their nest on the ground, beneath some clod, forming it of hay, dry fibres, &c. and lay four or five eggs.—The place these birds are taken in the greatest quantity, is the neighbourhood of Dunstable: the season begins about the 14th of September, and ends the 25th of February; and during that space, about 4000 dozen are caught, which supply the markets of the metropolis. Those caught in the day are taken in clap-nets of fifteen yards length, and two and a half in breadth; and are enticed within their reach by means of bits of looking-glass, fixed in a piece of wood, and placed in the middle of the nets, which are put in a quick whirling motion by a string the larker commands; he also makes use of a decoy-lark. These nets are used only till the 14th November: for the larks will not dare, or frolic in the air, except in fine sunny weather; and of course cannot be inveigled into the snare. When the weather grows gloomy, the larker changes his engine, and makes use of a tramnel net, twenty-seven or twenty-eight feet long, and five broad; which is put on two poles, eighteen feet long, and carried by men under each arm, who pass over the fields and quarter the ground as a setting dog: when they hear or feel a lark hit the net, they drop it down, and so the birds are taken.—2. The pratensis, or tit-lark, Tit-lark, has the two outward feathers of the wing edged with white, and frequents the meadows. It is found frequently in low marshy grounds: like other larks, it builds its nest among the grass, and lays five or six eggs. Like the wood-lark, it sits on trees; and has a most remarkable fine note, singing in all situations, on trees, on the ground, while it is sporting in the air, and particularly in its descent. This bird, with many others, such as the thrush, blackbird, willow-wren, &c. become silent about midsummer, and refuse their notes in September: hence the interval is the most mute of the year's three vocal seasons, spring, summer, and autumn. Perhaps the birds are induced to sing again as the autumnal temperament resembles the vernal.—3. The arborea, or wood-lark, is a native of Europe, and is distinguished by an annular white fillet about the head. It is inferior in size to the sky-lark, and is of a shorter thicker form; the colours are paler, and its note is less sonorous and less varied, though not less sweet. It perches on trees, and whistles like the black-bird. It will sing in the night; and, like the common lark, will sing as it flies. It builds on the ground, and makes its nest on the outside with moss, within of dried bents, lined with a few hairs. It lays five eggs, dusky and blotched with deep brown marks, darkest at the thicker end. The males of this and the last are known from the females by their superior size. But this species is not near so numerous as that of the common kind.—4. The campestris, has one half of its chief feathers of the wings brown, except two in the middle which are white, and the throat and breast are yellowish.—5. The trivialis, whose chief feathers on the tail are brown, only half of the outermost is white, and the second is white at the end, in the shape of a wedge; there is likewise a double whitish line on the wings. It is a native of Sweden, and perches on the tops of trees.—6. The cristata: the chief many years since, a tomb was discovered in this church, said to be that of Humphrey duke of Gloucester: when the leaden coffin was opened, the body was pretty entire, being preserved in a sort of pickle. There was a flatly crois in the middle of the town, as there were in many other places where queen Eleanor's body rested when it was brought out of the north for interment at Westminster; but it has been demolished, as some say, by the inhabitants. The market-days are Wednesdays and Saturdays. W. Long. o. 12. N. Lat. 51° 44'.