126 BIRD-LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 



winter resident species in great diversity mingle 

 in them with many birds from more northern 

 haunts. We have often remarked, however, that 

 in Devonshire, as elsewhere, the more elevated 

 fields and exposed hedgerows are not so thickly 

 populated with birds as those on the lower and 

 more sheltered lands ; while, on the other hand, 

 some species show a decided preference for the 

 elevated districts. We could not better illustrate 

 this remark than by alluding to the distribution 

 of the Sky-Lark in the county. Everywhere this 

 bird prefers an elevated pasture ; this explains 

 the comparative abundance of the Sky-Lark 

 on the central plateau and its relative sparse 

 distribution on the lower lands. In the district 

 of the South Hams, for instance, the song of the 

 Sky-Lark is familiar enough of course, as the 

 little brown singer hangs between earth and sky, 

 but the bird is not what we should call common, 

 and invariably nests on the hill-top fields. In 

 winter the bird becomes more numerous on these 

 lower lands, and flocks frequent some of the fields 

 on the summits of the cliffs and the more exposed 

 stubbles ; the central plateau is almost deserted 

 during severe winters, and then, in these ex- 



