THE LARKS 217 



weeds. Their opportunity for mischief indeed is limited, and during 

 the rest of the year they more than make amends in the vast quantity 

 of noxious insects which they devour. 1 According to Naumann, 2 

 oats are freed from their husks, being seized by the tip of the beak 

 and beaten against the ground ; in like manner the spikes or awns 

 are removed from barley ; while the feathery crowns of the corn- 

 flower (Centaurea) are similarly treated. A fall of snow at once sets 

 them on the move, the birds retreating with all speed to settle on the 

 first bare ground ; and during severe winters they suffer terribly. In 

 gathering numbers they gradually move westwards, vast hordes 

 passing into Ireland, chiefly at the south-east coast, and thence spread 

 over the country. 



The woodlark similarly gathers into flocks in the autumn, haunt- 

 ing the outskirts of woods, and low but not marshy spots. On warm 

 days, however, such flocks appear and disperse to high ground, re- 

 assembling with a return of frost. 



The ranks of our resident skylarks are augmented in the autumn 

 by vast hordes of larks from the Continent. But our home-bred birds 

 can usually be distinguished therefrom, being generally more rufous 

 in colour, the immigrants darker and larger. 



The immigrants just referred to arrive along the east coast of 

 England and Scotland in vast numbers, forming a continuous stream 

 for several consecutive days, and during this time appalling inroads 

 are made on their ranks. They are attacked by merlins 3 and other 

 birds of prey which persistently follow and harass them ; they are 

 taken in thousands by the bird-catchers, and thousands are killed at 

 the lighthouses over which they pass, being attracted by the glare of 

 the light. Thus dazzled, thousands strike the lanterns, and stunned 

 fall on the rocks below or into the sea. In Heligoland as many as 

 15,000 have been taken in a single night, and no estimate could be 

 made of the numbers which fell into the sea. Yet in spite of this 



1 O. V. Aplin, in Ornithology and Agriculture, p. 156. 

 8 Naumann, Vogel der Mitteleuropas, vol. iii. p. 25. 

 3 Chapman, Bird-life of the Border, p. 235. 



