ALAUDHXE. 151 



Somersetshire species to mention out of the six that 

 are now included in the British list. 



SKY LARK, Alaucla 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 



