n6 OUTDOOR LIFE IN ENGLAND 



when the plovers flock high in the air it is a 

 sign of bad weather coming, and I have never 

 found it fail. I shall never forget the effect of 

 a flock of plovers against a mass of dark clouds 

 upon which the afternoon sun was shining. At 

 one time they were almost invisible, then, as 

 they wheeled, their dark bodies appeared like a 

 number of black spots fluttering against the cloud, 

 and as they turned again, exposing their white 

 wings and breasts to the sunlight, the appearance 

 presented was that of a shower of the most 

 brilliant crystals. I have often seen a some- 

 what similar display, but never one to equal it. 

 Where peewits elect to make their nests in a 

 ploughed field, as is frequently the case, they 

 invariably do so on the ridges, and never in the 

 furrows. In our down district the stone-curlew, 

 or, as it is sometimes termed, the great plover 

 or ' thick-knee,' frequently nests in the same field 

 with the peewit. They remain in the neighbour- 

 hood till quite late in September, sometimes even 

 later. Large, ungainly, untidy-looking birds they 

 are, too, and very shy and wary ; and yet they 

 can hardly be termed ugly, for, despite their 

 shape, their plumage is a beautiful mixture of 

 gray, relieved by the pale-yellow colour of their 

 bills and legs. The iris of the eye is also of a 

 similar colour, but of a more decided yellow. 

 Their bodies are covered with a thick layer of 

 oily fat. Although I have skinned them, I have 

 never attempted to eat them. I am inclined to 



