For the first time I perceive this spring
that the year is a circle.
I would make a chart of our life,
know why just this circle of creatures completes the world.
Henry Thoreau, April 18, 1852
The turtle and frog
peep stealthily out and see
first larks go over.
March 27, 1857
\March 27, 2020
J. Farmer says he saw ducks this morning and has seen larks some days. Channing saw geese to-day. March 11, 1859
March 12. Now I see and hear the lark sitting with head erect, neck outstretched, in the middle of a pasture, and I hear another far off singing. Sing when they first come. March 12, 1854
March 13. Excepting a few bluebirds and larks, no spring birds have come, apparently. The woods are still. March 13, 1853
March 13. Going down railroad, listening intentionally, I hear, far through the notes of song sparrows (which are very numerous), the song of one or two larks. Also hearing a coarse chuck, I look up and see four black birds, whose size and long tails betray them crow blackbirds. Also I hear, I am pretty sure, the cackle of a pigeon woodpecker. The bright catkins of the willow are the springing most generally observed. March 13, 1859
March 16. See larks about, though I have heard of them in the winter. March 16, 1860
March 18. The bluebird and song sparrow sing immediately on their arrival , and hence deserve to enjoy some preeminence. They give expression to the joy which the season inspires. But the robin and blackbird only peep and chuck at first, commonly, and the lark is silent and flitting. March 18, 1853
March 21. Hear a lark far off in the meadow. March 21, 1855
March 22. Already I hear from the rail road the plaintive strain of a lark or two. They sit now conspicuous on the bare russet ground. March 22, 1853
March 25. This sound [the dark-eyed junco] advances me furthest toward summer, unless it be the note of the lark, who, by the way, is the most steady singer at present. Notwithstanding the raw and windy mornings, it will sit on a low twig or tussock or pile of manure in the meadow and sing for hours, as sweetly and plaintively as in summer.March 25, 1853
March 26. The lark sings, perched on the top of an apple tree, quite sweet and plaintive, contrasting with the cheerless season and the bleak meadow. March 26, 1855
March 27. Hear a lark in that meadow. Twitters over it on quivering wing and awakes the slumbering life of the meadow. The turtle and frog peep stealthily out and see the first lark go over. March 27, 1857
March 28. The first lark of the 23d sailed through the meadow with that peculiar prolonged chipping or twittering sound, perhaps sharp clucking. March 28, 1858
March 30. The pewee [phoebe] is heard, and the lark. March 30, 1851
March 30. You see a few blackbirds, robins, bluebirds, tree sparrows, larks, etc., but the song sparrow chiefly is heard these days. March 30, 1855
April 2. The sun is up. The water on the meadows is perfectly smooth and placid, reflecting the hills and clouds and trees. The air is full of the notes of birds, - song sparrows, red-wings, robins (singing a strain), bluebirds, - and I hear also a lark, - as if all the earth had burst forth into song. The influence of this April morning has reached them, for they live out-of-doors all the night, and there is no danger that they will oversleep themselves such a morning.April 2, 1852
April 6. The robin is the singer at present, such is its power and universality, being found both in garden and wood. Morning and evening it does not fail, perched on some elm or the like, and in rainy days it is one long morning or evening. The song sparrow is still more universal but not so powerful. The lark, too, is equally constant, morning and evening, but confined to certain localities, as is the blackbird to some extent. The bluebird, with feebler but not less sweet warbling, helps fill the air, and the pheobe does her part. . . . I cannot describe the lark's song. I used these syllables in the morning to remember it by, -- heetar-su-e-oo. April 6, 1853
April 9. I hear the note of a lark amid the other birds on the meadow. April 9, 1856
April 13. The larks are not yet in sufficient numbers or sufficiently musical. The robin is the prime singer as yet. April 13, 1852
April 14. Going down the railroad at 9 A. M., I hear the lark singing from over the snow. This for steady singing comes next to the robin now. It will come up very sweet from the meadows ere long. I do not hear those peculiar tender die-away notes from the pewee yet. Is it another pewee, or a later note? April 14, 1852
April 21. The robins sing through the ceaseless rain, and the song sparrows, and I hear a lark’s plaintive strain. April 21, 1852
April 23. The lark sings morning and evening . April 23, 1854
April 26. The lark on the top of an apple tree sings a tchea te che, then perhaps tche tchea, only a plaintive clear round note.
[Uncle Charles died March 27, 1856,
about midnight, aged seventy-six.]
March 12. Now I see and hear the lark sitting with head erect, neck outstretched, in the middle of a pasture, and I hear another far off singing. Sing when they first come. March 12, 1854
March 13. Excepting a few bluebirds and larks, no spring birds have come, apparently. The woods are still. March 13, 1853
March 13. Going down railroad, listening intentionally, I hear, far through the notes of song sparrows (which are very numerous), the song of one or two larks. Also hearing a coarse chuck, I look up and see four black birds, whose size and long tails betray them crow blackbirds. Also I hear, I am pretty sure, the cackle of a pigeon woodpecker. The bright catkins of the willow are the springing most generally observed. March 13, 1859
March 16. See larks about, though I have heard of them in the winter. March 16, 1860
March 18. The bluebird and song sparrow sing immediately on their arrival , and hence deserve to enjoy some preeminence. They give expression to the joy which the season inspires. But the robin and blackbird only peep and chuck at first, commonly, and the lark is silent and flitting. March 18, 1853
March 21. Hear a lark far off in the meadow. March 21, 1855
March 22. Already I hear from the rail road the plaintive strain of a lark or two. They sit now conspicuous on the bare russet ground. March 22, 1853
March 25. This sound [the dark-eyed junco] advances me furthest toward summer, unless it be the note of the lark, who, by the way, is the most steady singer at present. Notwithstanding the raw and windy mornings, it will sit on a low twig or tussock or pile of manure in the meadow and sing for hours, as sweetly and plaintively as in summer.March 25, 1853
March 26. The lark sings, perched on the top of an apple tree, quite sweet and plaintive, contrasting with the cheerless season and the bleak meadow. March 26, 1855
March 27. Hear a lark in that meadow. Twitters over it on quivering wing and awakes the slumbering life of the meadow. The turtle and frog peep stealthily out and see the first lark go over. March 27, 1857
March 28. The first lark of the 23d sailed through the meadow with that peculiar prolonged chipping or twittering sound, perhaps sharp clucking. March 28, 1858
March 30. The pewee [phoebe] is heard, and the lark. March 30, 1851
March 30. You see a few blackbirds, robins, bluebirds, tree sparrows, larks, etc., but the song sparrow chiefly is heard these days. March 30, 1855
April 2. The sun is up. The water on the meadows is perfectly smooth and placid, reflecting the hills and clouds and trees. The air is full of the notes of birds, - song sparrows, red-wings, robins (singing a strain), bluebirds, - and I hear also a lark, - as if all the earth had burst forth into song. The influence of this April morning has reached them, for they live out-of-doors all the night, and there is no danger that they will oversleep themselves such a morning.April 2, 1852
April 6. The robin is the singer at present, such is its power and universality, being found both in garden and wood. Morning and evening it does not fail, perched on some elm or the like, and in rainy days it is one long morning or evening. The song sparrow is still more universal but not so powerful. The lark, too, is equally constant, morning and evening, but confined to certain localities, as is the blackbird to some extent. The bluebird, with feebler but not less sweet warbling, helps fill the air, and the pheobe does her part. . . . I cannot describe the lark's song. I used these syllables in the morning to remember it by, -- heetar-su-e-oo. April 6, 1853
April 9. I hear the note of a lark amid the other birds on the meadow. April 9, 1856
April 13. The larks are not yet in sufficient numbers or sufficiently musical. The robin is the prime singer as yet. April 13, 1852
April 14. Going down the railroad at 9 A. M., I hear the lark singing from over the snow. This for steady singing comes next to the robin now. It will come up very sweet from the meadows ere long. I do not hear those peculiar tender die-away notes from the pewee yet. Is it another pewee, or a later note? April 14, 1852
April 21. The robins sing through the ceaseless rain, and the song sparrows, and I hear a lark’s plaintive strain. April 21, 1852
April 23. The lark sings morning and evening . April 23, 1854
April 26. The lark on the top of an apple tree sings a tchea te che, then perhaps tche tchea, only a plaintive clear round note.
*****
The lark sings a note
which belongs to New England
summer evenings.
See also:
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, the Wood Turtle (Emys insculpta)
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, the Painted Turtle (Emys picta)
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, The Yellow-Spotted Turtle (Emys guttata)
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, The Wood Frog (Rana sylvatica)
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, The first frogs to begin calling
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, Signs of Spring, Geese Overhead
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, the American Black Duck
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, the Song Sparrow (Fringilla melodia)
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, Signs of the Spring: the grackle arrives
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, The Pigeon Woodpecker
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau,The Eastern Phoebe
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, The Eastern Wood Pewee
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, The Bluebird in Spring.
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, The Robin in Spring
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, The Red-wing in Spring
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau, the Lark in Early Spring
A Book of the Seasons, by Henry Thoreau
"A book, each page written in its own season,
out-of-doors, in its own locality."
~edited, assembled and rewritten by zphx © 2009-2023
https://tinyurl.com/HDTlark
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