ALAUDIDA. 15% 
Somersetshire species to mention out of the six that 
are now included in the British lst. 
Sxy Lark, Alauda arvensis. The Sky Lark, which 
comes first on the list, is a very common bird in 
these parts, and is well known on account of its 
beautiful and joyful song, which has been more 
noticed by writers of both prose and poetry than 
the song of any other bird, the Nightingale even not 
excepted. It is resident here throughout the year, 
though its numbers appear to be increased in hard 
winters; but this apparent increase is probably 
owing to its habit of gathering into great flocks— 
sometimes of many hundreds—at that time of 
year. 
The Sky Lark is another of M. Prevost’s birds: 
his list of food, rather a long one, is as follows :— 
‘January, seeds of wild plants; February, seeds and 
corn; March, various insects, worms, seeds and corn ; 
April, insects, beetles and corn; May, beetles; June, 
flies and various insects; July, grasshoppers, worms 
and corn; August, crickets and grasshoppers; Sep- 
tember, insects, corn and seeds of weeds; October, 
seeds, worms and barley ; November, seeds, corn and 
berries; December, seeds of wild plants.” According 
to this list of M. Prevost’s, the good done by the 
Sky Lark more than compensates for the mischief; 
but occasionally, in hard winters, immense flocks 
drop in upon any green thing they can find. either 
