"Dear thoughts are in my mind/ And my soul soars enchanted,/ As I hear the sweet lark sing/ In the clear air of the day." That is the beginning of Samuel Ferguson's lovely poem about a bird we all love and are delighted to hear, singing as it rises in the air. And there are plenty of them about still. David Cabot in his Irish Birds estimates that there are over half-a-million pairs breeding in Ireland.
Visiting Frenchmen, hunters or shooters would be glad to read this, for they apparently enjoy eating them. They can't do it here. In the current issue of a French shooting journal the skylark comes under the heading of "Peasant game for royal hunting" or something like that, along with blackbirds, thrushes and others. Not all of us can be too condemnatory about those who shoot such beautiful small creatures. The snipe, too, is a small bird, much prized by Irish guns. And gives great pleasure to us in the summer by its amazing drumming sound as it descends.
Not that anyone wants to adopt the French attitude to what may be killed and eaten and what not. The French are the French. Leave it at that. Detailed instructions are given as to the approach tactics. For the lark may take off, and in a second or two, drop down again. Wait, the reader is told, until it has got well going after making a series of little jumps in the air, as it were.
It is said in the article that one skylark for every four cartridges expended is a fair average. And, of course, thrushes and blackbirds excite not only the hunting but the gourmandising instincts. In the south of France, particularly, we are told, these birds are coveted.
In January the birds collect particularly around the remaining bushes that retain their berries. Don't go for frost-covered berries - just wait a few hours. (At times this article seems to be a bit tongue-in-cheek.)
Have no doubt about the real popularity of them as food for the table in France. One of the dishes you will come across regularly in restaurants in Pate de merle or blackbird. Instructions are given in detail as to how to approach this prey. (Those of migratory flocks seem every year to follow the same routes.) If you see one landing near you, wait; more will follow. The article again reminds us "These birds are not `noble game'."
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