The Lark Versus Ignorance

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 122, 16 February 1935, Page 20

The Lark Versus Ignorance

. LL larks are fully protected by Statute through.the close season /W in England. Norfolk proposed further to safeguard the linf common woodlark' and shorelark by extending this protection / 7% throughout the year; and by way of simplifying administration the suggestion was made that the'wording be ‘Larks (all):”’ “The Bowers-that-be in Whitehall wrote to inquire whether Norfolk farmers understood they would thus be debarred from killing skylarks in autumn and'winter; and the Council’s agricultural'committee sat up and said (his would not do; larks came over from the Continent iu autumn and attacked the young wheat. The vote went for woodlark and shorelark only. The skylark is neither better nor worse than it was before in the county of Norfolk. It remains protected from March 1 .to August ! in eacli year. “Whether farmers are keen .on destroying larks (foreign and British, since the foreigners are not ringed or badged, or wearers of coloured shirts) is another thing. Some sti'y that if the bird reaches the tempting tender white stalk of the young wheat, this can. be remedied in the setting; and larknetting does not now pay: since larks for the gourmand are no longer the fashion) and live larks may no longer beat their heads and wings in birdshop cages. "The actual economic status of the bird, as obtained by scientific examination. gives a percentage of 35.5 as the proportion of insect food consumed to the direct benefit of man; and Dr. Collinge summarises his conclusions in the words : ’The injuries it does are far outweighed by the benefits it confers.’ ”

"Perhaps the skylark was, after all, the gainer by the discussion through the wave of indignation that rippled over the country. The poets were on the crest of it. A correspondent of the “Morning Post” cited from ‘an old Sussex philosopher’ the words — “ ’The man who kills a skylark shows How far from God man sometimes goes!’ while 'Touchstone’ iu witty lines affirmed—- “ ‘His pay-is scarce a tithe of what he saves.’ “ 'Post-mortems, skillfully conducted Have clearly shown that this is so; But farmers will not be instructed, And when they vow the lark musf go Insects iu endless ranks Unanimously pass a vote of thanks.’ In the “Guardian” another wit, Frank Buckland, defending ‘The undesirable Alien,’ concludes :— “ ‘I know that 1 shall never lift a gun At sounds of wings that flutter in the wheat ... “ ‘They say that you arrive on alien wings To spoil the grain, and be it is true: But I can only think that there are things That go against the grain far more than you.’ ” —From "Bird News and Notes.”