420 CHARADRIID.E. 



times productive of very difFcrcnt consequences. Mr. Chatto, 

 in his agreeable " Rambles in Nortliumbcrland and tlie 

 Scottish Border," refers to " the persecution to which the 

 Covenanters were exposed in the reign of Cliarles the Second 

 and his bigoted successor ;" and quoting Dr. Leyden, alludes 

 to the tradition that " they were frequently discovered to 

 their pursuers by the flight and screaming of the Lapwing ; 

 in consequence of which the Lapwing is still regarded as an 

 unlucky bird in the south of Scotland." 



In the autumn they collect in flocks, and from that time 

 till the end of winter are excellent birds for the table. 



The Peewit is common and indigenous to L-eland, and is 

 abundant in suitable localities throughout the British Islands 

 to the most remote of the Shetlands. It is found in Den- 

 mark ; M. Nilsson says it is plentiful in Sweden and in Scan- 

 dinavia generally ; it goes to the Faroe Islands, and even to 

 Iceland. Pennant, in his Arctic Zoology, says it is frequent 

 in Russia, and southward over tlie European continent it is 

 found as far as Spain, Provence, and Italy. It inhabits 

 Egypt ; Mr. Strickland found it at Smyrna ; the Zoological 

 Society have received specimens from Erzeroom ; and the 

 Russian naturalists found it on the plains between the Black 

 and the Caspian Seas. It may be traced from thence to 

 Astrachan, and to the vicinity of Lake Baikal. Mr. Selby 

 mentions having seen examples from China which did not 

 differ from our English specimens ; and M. Tcmminck in- 

 cludes it among his Birds of Japan. 



The beak is black ; the irides hazel ; forehead, crown, and 

 occiput, black, forming a cap or hood, which ends behind in 

 a tuft of six or seven elongated, slender feathers, slightly 

 curved upwards, which the bird can elevate or depress at 

 pleasure ; behind the eye, on the cheeks and sides of the 

 neck, and reaching to the nape beneath the plume, white, 

 speckled with black ; an oblique streak of black below the 



