PLOVERS 27 



misfortunes would happen to the community — rang- 

 ing from shipwreck to the capture of a contraband 

 cargo — if birds' eggs were brought indoors, or too 

 near the house. This strange behef is ahve and 

 in full force still in some places known to myself. 

 As the rare finds were generally the eggs of the 

 Ring Dotterel, that they were hard to find became 

 only natural. The nest of the common Lapwing, 

 if a slight hollow can be called one, contains four 

 eggs, of large size for the bird, but yet they are not 

 so lar^e as those of the Golden Plover. The 

 general ground-colour of the eggs is brownish- 

 yellow, dotted, blotched, and spotted with brownish- 

 black ; but they vary like the eggs of other birds 

 in their ground-colouring and markings. It must 

 always be remembered, when reading about nests 

 and eggs, that one should accept the general types 

 of both ; but due allowance should be made for 

 variations, hard-and-fast rules do not obtain in these 

 matters. 



The Lapwing, or, as it is f^ir better known, the 

 Pewit, is one of the beautiful and common birds 

 that remain with us throughout the year. Where 

 plashy heaths and wide common lands border on 

 cultivation, there you will be sure to meet with the 

 Pewit. Fallow fields and turnip fields are his 

 favourite feeding-grounds. These handsome birds 

 are good friends of the farmers, for they feed on 

 creatures which, if no check were placed on their 

 increase, would injure the crops in no small measure. 

 As the gentle bird's bump of self-preservation, so to 



