115 

 THE SHORELARK IN CUMBERLAND. 



Rkv. H. a. MACPHERSON, M.A., M.B.O.U., Etc., 



A uthor of the ' / 'isitation cf Pallas's Saud-C rouse to Scotland,' etc. 



The winter of 1889-90 has not been productive of many uncommon 

 birds in the North West of England ; and if I were wilhng to give 

 a Hst of them, it would be a short one. One species, however, turned up 

 in February, that rarely visits any portion of our A\'est coast ; I mean 

 the Shorelark {Oiocorys alpestris), so well known of late years as a 

 visitor to the East coast of England. I had suggested (in the 'Birds 

 of Cumberland') that the Shorelark would be detected some day 'on 

 our salt-marshes'; and sure enough, the ist of February, 1890, verified 

 the prediction, for a party of three Shorelarks then appeared on the 

 edge of a marsh that I often shoot over, and remained in the locality for 

 several days, in fact, until shot; they proved to be in winter plumage, 

 though one male showed much vinous colour. Among other localities 

 visited by the Shorelark during the present winter, Dover may be 

 instanced. The species indeed seems to occur there as regularly as 

 on the Norfolk coast, hardly a season passing without one or more 

 specimens being captured alive. 



I find from my notebooks, that I have received several living 

 Shorelarks from Dover at different periods. One of them I gave 

 away to my friend, Mr. Young, F.L.S., who kept it in a cage with a 

 number of other small birds, and found it an excellent addition to 

 his aviary. Another, a female, that I kept in my own aviary, became 

 very tame, in fact, quite reconciled to the loss of liberty, and used to 

 sing a low and subdued song. This bird became pied in one moult. 

 Ultimately I gave her away to another friend, Mr. H. D. 

 Astley, F.Z.S. A third was a particularly vigorous male, and a very 

 hearty songster. Like my other Shorelarks, he preferred to live 

 chiefly on the ground, tripping over the gravel with light and dainty 

 action. He took great pride in his pretty vinaceous plumage, and 

 fairly delighted in a sand-bath. If alarmed, as by the approach of 

 a stranger, he would fly up to a broad rail, and there remain perching 

 until his solicitude was removed. The call-note used by this and 

 other birds on most occasions, was a soft 'chee-chee,' but he had also 

 a lively twitter and a pleasant song. In summer, our Shorelarks 

 showed a partiality for insects, and would then eat mealworms, which 

 they rejected during the winter months. I see from my notes, that 

 a Shorelark shot by a quondam collector of mine near Rye on 

 April 22nd, and sent to Mr. Aplin, contained the remains of 



April 1890. 



