CHA RA DRIID.^~PL VERS. 



237 



telegraph wire in the neighbourhood of Colchester and lost one wing. It came 

 into the possession of Dr. Bree, who forwarded it to the Zoological Gardens 

 (Laver). Dr. Bree records (29) that it was brought to him alive in the third 

 week in Aug., 1876, doubtless when on its southward migration ; also that in May, 

 1880, two were shot out of a flock of seven on migration near Colchester (29. May 

 29). Mr. Hope writes that he generally sees them in September and May on the 

 borders of Essex, where they are more common than they were a few years back. 

 Mr. E. A. Fitch informs me of one " in summer plumage," shot by Mr. W. Sewell 

 at Bradvvell-on-Sea in Sept., 1875, ^'^'^ ^^- Salter has some killed on the shore at 

 Mersea Island in 1886. In Hone's Every-Day Book, it is stated, under May loth, 

 that 



" in May and June [? June] this bird is to be found on the Gog-Magog Hills 

 [which are in Cambridgeshire, but only just be3'ond the Essex border] and the 

 moors adjacent. It is caught with nets. * * * There is a tradition current here 

 that King James I. was very fond of seeing Dotterells taken ; and when he came 

 to Newmarket used to accompany the birdcatchers to the Gog-Magog Hills and 

 moors for that purpose." Then follows an amusing anecdote connected with the 

 sport. Mr. Saunders says (37. iii. 255) that May loth " used to be known on the 

 borders of Hertford and Cambridgeshire as ' Dotterell-Day.' " 



Peewit or Lapwing : Vanelliis vulgaris. Locally, " Green 

 Plover," "Black Plover," "Horned Pie," and "Flapper-jack" 

 (E. A. F. — once). 



A resident, breeding not uncommonly near the coast and at a few 

 inland places, but nowhere abundantly in the county. \\\ the winter, 

 especially after 

 strong easterly 

 gales or during se- 

 vere weather, enor- 

 mous flocks ap- 

 pear in the inland 

 parts of the county, 

 feeding in ploughed 

 fields and low 

 marshy pastures. In 

 all probability their 

 absence from the 

 inland parts of our 

 county during the breeding season may be largely accounted for by 

 the better farming now carried on, as Mr. Clarke informs me that 

 many years ago they were plentiful round Saffron Walden, where they 

 do not now breed. 



On July 24th, 1876, I saw a small party of seven or eight fly over here — a very 

 unusual occurrence in the breeding season — and in 1879 I saw a flock of twenty 

 here as early as Oct. 8th. Mr. Buxton says (47. 94) that it is 



" Frequently seen in flocks about the fields near Wanstead Park and elsewhere 

 [in the Forest]. Ten years ago (1874), they used to breed on Fairmead and 

 near the Wake Arms. I have only observed one pair this year, but there are 

 some fields just outside the limits of the Forest to which they still resort in spring." 



I'EEWITS or LAFWINGS, l/l2. 



