especially in open cornfields, though equally at home 
everywhere excepting in woods or plantations. While 
many remain in the same quarters throughout the year, 
yet their numbers are largely reinforeed by migration in 
the spring and autumn. In these migrations the males 
appear generally to precede the females. You may see 
the Sky-Larks, who have been scattered in pairs and 
families through the spring and summer, as autumn 
approaches assembling in vast flocks, both on the 
stubble of cornfields and near the sea-shore. 
An interesting illustration of discrimimating instinct 
in the Sky-Lark is noticed by Professor Newton, who 
observes that ‘the appearance of a Merlin will cause a 
sudden cessation of the song, at whatever height the 
performer may be, his wings are closed, and he drops 
to the earth like a falling stone; the Kestrel, however, 
is treated with indifference, and in the presence of a 
Sparrow-Hawk the Sky-Lark knows that safety is to be 
sought aloft.” 
The Sky-Lark usually scrapes a hollow in the ground 
for her nest, which is generally placed under the shelter 
of a tuft of grass or a clod. In the north of England 
the Sky-Larks generally remain in flocks in the open 
fields until the first fall of snow, when they promptly 
retire to the south. In mild seasons, like that of 
1889-90, a few remain in Northumberland throughout 
the winter. 
