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In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children, under a free government ought to be instructed... No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people. Preface to 1828 Dictionary
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L'ARK, n. [As the Latin alauda coincides with laudo, Eng. loud so the first syllable of lark, laf, lau, lave. But I know not the sense of the word.]
A frolic; a jolly time.
[Colloq.]
Dickens. To sport] to frolic.
[Colloq.] Any one numerous
species of singing birds of the genus Alauda and allied genera
(family Alaudidæ). They mostly belong to Europe, Asia,
and Northern Africa. In America they are represented by the shore
larks, or horned larks, of the genus Otocoris. The true larks
have holaspidean tarsi, very long hind claws, and, usually, dull,
sandy brown colors.
* The European skylark, or lark of the poets (Alauda arvensis), is of a brown mottled color, and is noted for its clear and sweet song, uttered as it rises and descends almost perpendicularly in the air. It is considered a table delicacy, and immense numbers are killed for the markets. Other well-known European species are the crested, or tufted, lark (Alauda cristata), and the wood lark (A. arborea). The pipits, or titlarks, of the genus Anthus (family Motacillidæ) are often called larks. See Pipit. The American meadow larks, of the genus Sturnella, are allied to the starlings. See Meadow Lark. The Australian bush lark is Mirafra Horsfieldii. See Shore lark. Lark bunting (Zoöl.), a fringilline bird (Calamospiza melanocorys) found on the plains of the Western United States. -- Lark sparrow (Zoöl.), a sparrow (Chondestes grammacus), found in the Mississippi Valley and the Western United States. To catch larks; as, to
go larking.
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