A Naturalist’s Journal

by M. Yuvan

The Skylark ascends high into the heavens till it is a tiny blotch or at times not visible at all, and then showers its song down from there while it hovers on its little pinions. It renders a lengthy improvisation which is modulated by the wind currents giving it varying dynamics, muffling its voice now and then making it loud and clear moments later, like it was playing around with the volume knob. The winds make its song more enchanting as it plays on our ears but its currents are what the bird fights, as they keep carrying it away downwind while the bird struggles to stay put where it chose to be. On a gloomy day a Skylark’s spirited song is quite enough to lift one’s spirits and so also did Shelley express in his “To a Skylark”- “Better