BIRD-LIFE IN FIELD AND HEDGEROW. 145 



at intervals as he indulges in one soaring flight 

 after another. We remark the partiality of this 

 Pipit for the higher fields, and in the Paignton 

 lowlands it is not so plentiful as on the hills. The 

 Meadow Pipit visits the turnip and cabbage fields 

 in autumn and winter, sometimes in considerable 

 flocks; and we have remarked similar companies 

 in spring. The great breeding grounds of this 

 Pipit are on the central plateau. Swallows and 

 Martins course about the open pastures, and the 

 former species breeds quite commonly in the many 

 barns and outhouses studded about the fields. Odd 

 birds of both species are occasionally seen well into 

 November. In early autumn parties of Missel 

 Thrushes appear upon the fields, showing preference 

 for pastures and turnip patches; whilst the Sparrow 

 Hawk and the Kestrel, each in their own peculiar 

 way, hunt these places for small birds and mice. At 

 dusk our old friend the Barn Owl comes forth from 

 linhay, barn, and church-steeple, and in noiseless 

 flight quarters the stubbles for mice. South Devon 

 can hardly be described as a game-preserving 

 district, and agricultural conditions are scarcely 

 suited to the undue increase of the Partridge. 



Nevertheless we have a fair sprinkling of birds 



10 



