PLOVER 93 



which runs beneath and suddenly hides securely in the 

 grass when but few feet from me. 



Sept. 18, 1858. I notice that the wing of the peet- 

 weet, which is about two inches wide, has a conspicuous 

 and straight-edged white bar along its middle on the 

 under side for half its length. It is seven eighths of an 

 inch wide and, being quite parallel with the darker parts 

 of the wing, it produces that singular effect in its fly- 

 ing which I have noticed. This line, by the way, is not 

 mentioned by Wilson, yet it is, perhaps, the most no- 

 ticeable mark of the bird when flying ! The under side 

 of the wings is commonly slighted in the description, 

 though it is at least as often seen by us as the upper. 



May 2, 1859. A peetweet and its mate at Mantatuket 

 Rock. The river seems realjy inhabited when the peet- 

 weet is back and those little li^t- winged millers ( ?). 

 This bird does not return to our stream until the weather 

 is decidedly pleasant and warm. He is perched on the 

 accustomed rock. Its note peoples the river, like the 

 prattle of children once more in the yard of a house that 

 has stood empty. 



Hay 8, 1860. The simple peep peep of the peetweet, 

 as it flies away from the shore before me, sounds hol- 

 low and rather mournful, reminding me of the seashore 

 and its wrecks, and when I smell the fresh odor of our 

 marshes the resemblance is increased. 



PLOVER 



1850. As I was stalking over the surface of this 

 planet in the dark to-night, I started a plover resting on 

 the ground and heard him go off with whistling wings. 



