584 THE BIRDS OF YORKSHIRE. 



or fawn, with the back of the head and lower breast cream- 

 coloured [Field, ist March 1884) ; a cinnamon-hued specimen 

 was obtained at Redcar in December 1892 ; and in the 

 year 1903 a white example occurred on the moors near Fewston 

 Reservoir, Washburndale. A considerable diversity as regards 

 colour and form exists in the eggs, some being occasionally 

 found of a white or pale green or blue ground colour, profusely 

 dotted with small black, purple, or grey spots ; and I have 

 seen numerous examples of dwarf and deformed eggs, some 

 no larger than a Lark's, while others are elongated or stunted 

 in form. A clutch of four, found at the Teesmouth in 1902, 

 consisted of : — 



One the size of a common Sparrow's. 

 One the shape of a Common Gull's. 

 One of normal type, and 

 One long and narrow, with heavy blotches. 

 Very rarely a clutch of five is met with, though no fewer 

 than three containing that number were recorded from Masham 

 in 1883 and 1884. 



It may be worthy of mention that Mr. Palmer in the 

 Zoologist (1884, p. 69), notes the fact of a Lapwing perching 

 on a stone wall in Wharfedale in July 1875. 



Concerning Yorkshire folk-lore there is a belief in the 

 West Riding that at one period the Peewit made its nest in 

 trees and that the Cushat built on the ground ; an amicable 

 exchange took place between the birds, and now they 

 respectively sing out their feelings on the subject. According 

 to a local rhyme the Peewit says, 

 " Peewit, Peewit, 

 I coup'd my nest, and I've it." 



(See Ring-Dove.) 



Local vernacular names : — Lapwing, Peewit, Green Plover 

 are in general use. Tewhit, Tewit, Tewet, Tuit, Tuet, and 

 similar variants are commonly used in the West and North 

 Ridings. (The Tewit Well, on the Upper Stray at Harrogate, 

 is so called on account of its connection with these birds, 

 whose large numbers are said to have attracted the attention 

 of Sir William Slingsby, and so led to the discovery of the 



