o 



502 THK FBATIIEllED TRIBES. 



THE CRESTED L<VPWING, OR I'EWII'.** 



This is a beautiful bird, iibouudiug in many parts of England, and also of tho con- 

 tinent, especially Holland, where it assembles in large flocks. IMultitudes of Lapwings 

 are annually taken in autunni and winter for the table ; its flesh being, in those seasons, 

 of excellent flavour. Tlieir eggs also are regarded as groat delicacies. 



Dp. Latham remarks : " I have seen this bird approach a worm-cast, 1 urn it aside, and, 

 after walking two or three times about it, by waj^ of giving motion to the ground, the 

 worm comes out, and the watchful bird, seizing hold of it, draws it forth. The habit of 

 the pewit of flying and screaming over the head of any one who happens to go near their 

 eggs or j^oung, was productive, formerly, of two very opposite feelings towards them." 

 The instinct of this bird in defence of its yoimg and in solicitude for their safety, 

 cannot be surpassed. Let only a man or a dog approach the nest, and the parents will 

 sweep close around the intruder, flutter, as with broken pinions, along tho ground before 

 him ; now take wing, keeping so near that it might seem easy to catch them ; now 

 wheeling round, now darting forwards, and uttering incessantly their plaintive cry of 

 ]>civcct, poind, till, at length, having efiected their purpose, the sagacious birds mount 

 upwards, and the little ones are safe. 



The lapwing may easily be distinguished, even on the wing, from tho contrasted black 

 and white of its plumage. Tho head is black, glossed with green, and from the occiput 

 arises an elegant crest of long, slender black feathers, turned slightlj' upwards. The 

 throat is black ; the sides -of the head and neck are \\hite ; the back and wing-coverts arc 

 greenish black, with purple and blue reflexions ; the chest and iinder parts are white ; 

 the upper tail-coverts are pale chestnut ; the tail is white at tho base, and at the top, but 

 black the rest of its length. 



" Charles Anderson, Esq., of Lea, near (iainsborough, to whom T," sa3's Mr. Yarrell, 

 " am indebted form any notes on the birds of Lincohishirc, sends me ^\•ord, that a very ancient 

 Jjincolnshire family, the Tyrwhitts, bear three pewits for their arms ; and it is said, from 

 a tradition, that it was in consequence of tlie founder of their family having fallen in a 

 skirmish, wounded, and being saved by his followers, who wero directed to tlie spot where 

 he lay by the cries of these birds, and their hovering over him." The notice, however, so 

 frequently given by these birds, was sometimes productive of very dili'erent consequences. 

 ^Ir. Chatto, in his agreeable " llambles in Northumberland and the (Scottish Border," 

 refers to " the persecution to which the Covenanters were exposed in the reign of Charles 

 the Second an(l his bigoted successor ;" and quoting Dr. Leyden, alludes to the tradition, 

 that " they were frequentl)' discovered to their pursuers by the flight and screaming of 

 the lapwing; in consequence of which, the lapwing is still regarded as an unlucky bird 

 in the south of Scotland." 



Jlr. Selby says : " The trade of collecting the eggs continues for about (wo niontlis ; 

 and great expertness in the discovery of tlie nests is shown by those accustomed to it ; 

 gciuirally judging of their situation by tho conduct of the female birds, wlio invariably, 

 upon being disturbed, run from the egg.s, and llu-n fly near to the ground for a short 

 distance, witliout uttering any alann cry. The males, on the contrary, are very 

 clamorous, and fly round the intruder, endeavouring, by various instinctive arts, to divert 

 liis attention. • 



On this subject, also, Mr. Salmon observes, " So expert have some men become, that 

 they will not only walk straight towaids a nest, which nniy be at a considerable distance, 

 but tell the probable number of eggs it may contain previous to inspection ; generallj' 



• Viiiulliis Crc»t«tus. 



