escend to drink while on their aerial passage; those in the rear
alighting on the backs of those who touched the ground first, in the
same manner as the domestic pigeon, and pressing them beneath the
surface of the water. Nuttall estimates the rapidity of their flight
at about a mile a minute, and states among other data for this result,
that there have been wild pigeons shot near New York, whose crops were
filled with rice that must have been collected in the plantations of
Georgia, and to digest which would not require more than twelve hours.

[Illustration: SHORE LARK.]

Usually fat, much esteemed as food, and not uncommon in our markets,
this beautiful bird may be seen in different seasons ranging from
Hudson's Bay to Mexico, and from New England to the Rocky Mountains.
They arrive in the Northern and Middle States late in the fall, and
many remain through-out the winter. As the weather grows colder in
the north, however, they become quite common in South Carolina and
Georgia, frequenting the plains, commons and dry ground, keeping
constantly upon the ground, and roving about in families under the
guidance of the old birds, whose patriarchal care extends over all, to
warn them by a plaintive call of the approach of danger, and instruct
them by example how to avoid it. They roost somewhat in the same
manner as partridges, in a close ring or circle, keeping each other
warm, and abiding with indifference the frost and the storm. They
migrate only when driven by want of food; this appears to consist of
small round compressed black seeds, oats, buckwheat, &c., with a large
proportion of gravel. Shore Lark and Sky Lark are the names by which
they are usually known. They are said to sing well, rising in the air
and warbling as they ascend, after the manner of the sky-lark of
Europe.

TRIUMPHS OF PEACE.

BY WILLIAM H. C. HOSMER.

From palace, cot and cave
Streamed forth a nation, in the olden time,
To crown with flowers the brave,
Flushed with the conquest of some far-off clime,
And, louder than the roar of meeting seas,
Applauding thunder rolled upon the breeze.
Memorial columns rose
Decked with the spoils of conquered foes,
And bards of high renown their stormy paeans sung,
While Sculpture touched the marble white,
And, woke by his transforming might,
To life the statue sprung.
The vassal to his task was chained--
The coffers of the state were drained
In re