84 BRITISH SEA BIRDS. 
lands to breed, returning coastwards again when the 
young are reared, especially from the more exposed 
and elevated localities. The favourite marine 
haunts of the “Green Plover,” or Peewit, as this 
bird is otherwise called, are rough saltings, mud-flats, 
and slob-lands; sands and shingles it rarely visits 
unless when driven to do so by heavy snowfalls ; 
and at all times it prefers ground overgrown with 
herbage to the bare beaches. As-this species 
presents little difference between summer and winter 
plumage, means for concealment may have some 
influence in its choice of haunt. When standing 
or running on the ground the Lapwing is a very 
ordinary looking bird; graceful enough, it is true; 
but the moment it rises into the air the observer is 
struck with the singularity of its appearance; the 
broad and rounded wings are unfolded and moved 
in a slow flapping Owl-like manner; very often 
grotesque evolutions are indulged in, the bird rising 
and swooping down again, turning and twisting in a 
most erratic way, and all the time persistently 
uttering the wild, mewing, plaintive cry that is 
absolutely characteristic of this Plover—an un- 
mistakable and unique note among birds. It may 
be expressed on paper as a nasal fee-weet, frequently 
modulated into weet-a-weet, pee-weet-weet. 
As the autumn days draw on the Lapwing 
becomes more gregarious, often forming into flocks 
of enormous size, which wander about a good deal 
as the varying weather affects their supply of food. 
; 
— 
et” 
