BIRD-LIFE IN FIELD AND HEDGEROW. I2/ 



ceptional cases, the bird is seen in some 

 abundance. Small parties of Wood-Larks are 

 also fairly regular visitors to the lower fields 

 during winter. The story may be worth repeating 

 here that Sky-Larks, during the winter of 1645-46, 

 appeared in Exeter in " multitudes like Quails 

 in the wilderness," as quaint Fuller records in 

 his History of English Worthies, while the city 

 was besieged by the Parliamentary forces, the 

 birds forming a welcome and unexpected supply 

 of food to the beleaguered dwellers in the Ever 

 Faithful city. Be all this as it may, Sky-Larks 

 are rarely, if ever, seen in such vast numbers in 

 Devonshire as they are every autumn on the 

 east coast of England. Buff varieties of the 

 Sky-Lark are sometimes seen in this part of 

 Devonshire. One of the most interesting birds 

 to be met with in this part of the county is the 

 Cirl Bunting. As many readers may know, 

 this species was first discovered to be a British 

 bird in Devonshire ; and it was in the South 

 Hams district that Montagu detected it, now 

 almost exactly a century ago. This pretty bird 

 will always remain closely associated with that 

 famous old-time ornithologist, who in Devonshire 



