. The bird. Birds. 238 THE SONG. hope. Espoir, hope, is the old device of us Gauls; and for this reason we have adopted as our national bird that humble minstrel, so poorly clad, but so rich in heart and song. Nature seems to have treated the lark with harshness. Owing to the arrangement of her claws, she __ cannot perch on the trees. She rests on the ground, close to the poor hare, and with no other shelter than the furrow. How precarious, how riskful a life, at the time of incubation ! What cares must be hers, what inqui-. etudes ! Scarcely a tuft of gi-ass conceals the mother's fond treasur
. The bird. Birds. 238 THE SONG. hope. Espoir, hope, is the old device of us Gauls; and for this reason we have adopted as our national bird that humble minstrel, so poorly clad, but so rich in heart and song. Nature seems to have treated the lark with harshness. Owing to the arrangement of her claws, she __ cannot perch on the trees. She rests on the ground, close to the poor hare, and with no other shelter than the furrow. How precarious, how riskful a life, at the time of incubation ! What cares must be hers, what inqui-. etudes ! Scarcely a tuft of gi-ass conceals the mother's fond treasure from the dog, the hawk, or the falcon. She hatches her eggs in haste ; with haste she trains the trembling brood. WTio would not believe that the ill-fated bird must share the melancholy of her sad neighbour, the hare ?. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Michelet, Jules, 1798-1874; Giacomelli, Hector, 1822-1904. London ; New York : T. Nelson
Size: 1488px × 1679px
Photo credit: © Library Book Collection / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthormich, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1860, booksubjectbirds
