WOOD-LAPJC— CRESTED LAEK. Ill 



of those woods which are well iuniislied witli tiniber^ being 

 seldom or never found far from the outside. It is a beauti- 

 ful songster, and utters its deligiitfully liquid, flute-like 

 notes in the evenings of spring, summer, and autumn, 

 generally Avhile suspended in the air at a very considerable 

 height, and sometimes continuing it intermittently for an 

 hour together. Some time ago, this bird might be heard 

 from my lawn at Cowfold every fairly warm evening, trill- 

 ing its lovely notes, often far into the night ; but I have not 

 heard it for many years, nor met with it, in my own neigh- 

 bourhood. In fact, the last time I saw it at all in Sussex 

 was when shooting in the parish of Cowfold in January 1881. 

 I was surprised to find it in little flocks of twenty or thirty, 

 in the stubble-fields^ just before a heavy snow, which covered 

 the ground deeply for many days. They seem to have 

 migrated in a body, and I have never seen or heard of one 

 in the neighbourhood since. At this time they assembled 

 together all along the coast, wherever the ground was free 

 from snow, and many dozens fell victims to the bird-catchers. 

 Except on such occasions, they are found in pairs, and never 

 in large numbers in any one district. It chooses a grassy 

 spot, on the outside of a wood or copse, for its nest^ con- 

 structing it of dry grass, mixed with a little moss, and lining- 

 it also with fine grass, without hair or feathers. Although it 

 takes a few small seeds, insects form its principal food, and 

 it is very partial to grasshoppers. 



CRESTED LARK. 



Alauda cristata. 



Although this species is not uncommon in Normandy and 

 in some parts of Holland, its occurrences in England have 



