SHORE- LARK. 
ALAUDA ALPESTRIS. 
A GLANCE at the pages of the older works on ornithology will show that the Shore-Lark was in former days 
considered a rare wanderer to our shores. It is quite possible the writers may have been correct in their 
supposition; but I should rather be inclined to believe that the species must have escaped notice, owing 
to its similarity to the Common Sky-Lark. Unless carefully watched, the two birds would scarcely be 
distinguished by the majority of observers. At any distance over thirty yards the dark markings and bright 
colours round the head are not sufficiently conspicuous to the naked eye to attract attention. Those, 
however, who have once had an opportunity of studying the actions and general habits of this handsome 
bird would be unlikely to overlook the species. The Shore-Lark appears fond of company ; on one 
occasion I recognized a male and a couple of females associating with a party of Sparrows in the roadway 
towards the south end of Yarmouth ; they also join for a time the flocks of Sky-Larks and Snow-Buntings 
frequenting the denes along the coast. Unfortunately for their own safety, these birds arc remarkably 
unsuspicious of danger, paying little regard to either net or gun. 
It is only in Norfolk, Suffolk, and Sussex that I met with this Lark. The earliest date in any season on 
which the species came under my observation was the 20th of October; and not a single specimen was ever 
noticed later than the second week in March. Towards the latter end of October 1S79 a flock numbering 
between twenty and thirty, as well as several small scattered parties, frequented the South Denes at Yarmouth. 
These birds repeatedly made their way among the buildings in the outskirts of the town, a favourite resort 
being a few acres of ground adjoining the Naval Hospital recently laid down for grass. From this spot, 
when disturbed, they made their way either to the upper portion of the sands by the drive or to the open denes 
further south. Numbers of Snow-Buntings put in an appearance about the same time, and were invariably 
to be found either along the roadway of the drive or among the sandhills. At times I remarked the two 
species intermixed while feeding, though, if alarmed, it was seldom they kept company for any distance. Fresh 
comers joined the first arrivals early in November, and were still more confiding than those previously noticed. 
Small parties might be watched feeding on the sandy links within twenty yards of the drive, utterly regardless 
of the traffic. In this locality I observed the Shore-Lark in larger or smaller numbers during the winters of 
1871, ’72, ’73, ’79, ’81, and ’82. The more lonely and unfrequented coast-line between Blakcny and Salthouse 
is better suited to the requirements of this species; and here they were to be met with collected into large flocks 
on the few occasions when I visited the district. The rough banks bordering the marshes, interspersed with 
pools of water and coarse grass, were their haunts. If driven up while feeding, these birds were far less easily 
alarmed than the Sky-Lark, for the most part merely hovering round the intruder for a few minutes, and 
again settling close at hand. 
The first specimens I obtained were a pair shot in December 18G2 ; these birds were in attendance on an 
immense gathering of Snow-Buntings on a marsh near Hunstanton. In November 1872 I noticed a small 
