618 ALAUDID^. 



sides, while they set up their plumage and, by a peculiar 

 action of the legs and wings, throw the fine and dry soil 

 over every part, so that it penetrates to the skin through the 

 ruffled feathers. This is done in order to rid themselves of 

 insect-parasites. Though living in pairs during spring and 

 summer. Skylarks are gregarious in autumn and winter, 

 assembling in vast flocks on the open country soon after the 

 stubbles are cleared,* and flitting from field to field in quest 

 of food — the flocks of home-bred birds being often increased 

 by arrivals from abroad as the weather becomes severer. 

 Mr. Woolnough, of Hollesley on the coast of Suffolk, re- 

 marked (Trans. Linn. Soc. xv. p. 22) that he had for several 

 years frequently seen them come flying from off" the sea, from 

 five to fifty in a flock, for many hours on the same day, and 

 that he once observed this in November for three days in 

 succession. The like has been witnessed by others, as by 

 Mr. Lubbock and Mr. Dowell, on the coast of Norfolk, while 

 St. John writes that in Moray, during the first days of snow 

 and storm a constant immigration of Larks takes place, the 

 birds arriving from seaward during the whole day, and being 

 frequently heard after dark, not in compact flocks but strag- 

 gling in a constant stream. In the northern parts of Eng- 

 land the first heavy fall of snow, by overwhelming the supply 

 of food, impels a general departure for the south. Mr. F. 

 Boyes, writing from Beverley, says (Zool. s.s. p. 2640) that 

 one evening in December, 1870, when the ground was be- 

 coming thickly covered with snow, he noticed the Larks 

 flying quickly with shrill cries of alarm in different directions 

 and in an unsettled manner, while next morning, as soon as 

 it was light, they were seen, in numbers simply incalculable, 

 steering their course directly southwards, forming an almost 

 continuous stream which lasted for hours, indeed, so far as 

 he could judge, for the whole day. " The birds", he con- 

 tinues, " made little noise while passing overhead, but 

 seemed bent only on leaving the districts whence they had 

 come as quickly as possible". In like weather Mr. Corbin too, 



* Near Brighton, says Mr. Rowley, tlie "flight" occurs on the 18th or 19th of 

 September. 



