Bird Life in a Suburban Parish 107 



proceeded to slioiit and throw stones at nie, and finally 

 climbed over the fence to meddle ^^'itll the bicycle. I was 

 eventually oblioed to sliow myself and descend to dri\'e them 

 away ; and after all the uproar it wns not worth while 

 starting aoain. I had already been up the tree about five 

 hours. It was probably as well that I could not catch any 

 of the young rascals. 



The Golden Plover is only a winter \'isitor to the marshes 

 in hard weather — wildfowl weather — and seems to be decreasing 

 in numbers ; but the I^apwing is a resident all the year round. 

 Large flocks of these birds may be seen during the winter 

 in the marshes and cabbage-fields, but \'ery early in the 

 year they pair, and resort to certain fields in which they 

 are accustomed to nest. Their characteristic flight, as, with 

 rounded wings, they now rise in the air and now swoop 

 down almost to the groimd, uttering their wild, plaintive cry, 

 " Pee-weet, weet-a-weet," adds a great charm to the land- 

 scape, and enli\'ens many a bare expanse of fallow and 

 moor. From the note is derived not only the English 

 name " Peewit," but the Dutch name " Kie\ it," and also 

 the P'rench *• Dix-huit." 



The eggs may be readily found with a little practice, 

 but an unaccustomed eye has some difficulty in seeing them, 

 even when pointed out. Both sexes being of ^'ery con- 

 spicuous plumage, and the nests being on open ground, 

 they are very shy while breeding, and lea\'e their nests as 

 soon as a stranger approaches within two hundred or three 

 hundred vards. Farm-labom"ers, llowe^'er, do not excite 



