216 SKETCHES OF BIRD LIFE. 



where we used to wait at night for ducks, and on 

 blank nights make up for a disappointment by 

 bagging Peewits. Such are the scenes which it 

 is one of the chief pleasures of the naturalist to 

 recall when looking at a bird in his collection. 



The Peewit may be considered a resident species, 

 for it may be found in some part or other of the 

 country all the year round. There is no doubt that 

 great numbers move southwards at the approach 

 of winter ; and the birds which we notice in the 

 southern counties in the fall of the year are probably 

 visitors from more northern localities. 



In many parts of the country we have remarked 

 that the same ground is annually resorted to by 

 Peewits for the purpose of nesting ; and hence we 

 may conclude that the same birds return year by 

 year, impelled by curious instinct, to the very spot 

 where they have formerly reared their young. They 

 pair towards the end of March, and early in April 

 collect straws and dry grass, and form a slight nest 

 in a depression of the ground. When the full com- 

 plement of eggs is laid, each nest contains four, and 

 the harvest time for poulterers and game-dealers 

 commences about the middle of April. When the 



