fe:?t-biri> shooting. 115 



so lucky as to shoot tliree in one day, but he had to toil hardly for 

 his prize. 



The LapwiJig, or Pewit. {Fringilla Venellus. Linn.) — This is a 

 common bii'd amcng sportsmen ; it falls in our way in every direc- 

 tion, where there is poor, barren, and moist land. Its weight is 

 about eight ounces. The plumage, taken altogether, is beautiful, 

 ■ and the male and female greatly resemble each other, the latter, 

 however, being rather the smaller of the two. They live mostly 

 on worms, and when it visits, at particular seasons, the sea-shore, 

 it then lives on an abundant supply oi-molhcsca. It is a well-known 

 bird, chiefly by its singular cries when flying, and its motions are 

 agile and froHcsqme. The female lays four eggs, of a dirty oUve 

 colour,_ spotted with black, which she deposits in some small inden- 

 tation in the ground, having previously made a kind of rude nest, 

 composed of a little dry grass and heather. The young brood set 

 out on their travels as soon as they leave the shell, and the parent 

 bird displays a great deal of tenderness and soKcitude over them. 

 When a stranger is near, or even if he be a quarter of a mile off, 

 she raises an alarm by rising in the an, and making many circum- 

 volutions, both to attract and distract Ms attention. When an 

 enemy approaches near to her resting-place, v.^here her young are 

 crouched, she will often alight on the ground, and run among our 

 feet, and feign lameness, very much in the same manner as par- 

 tridges do under the same circumstances. Buffon says, that about 

 the latter end of July the lapwmgs have their gatherings, both old 

 and young. They hover for some time in the air, at a considerable 

 elevation. On these occasions they perform so many and such 

 regular evolutions, that some wi'iters have supposed that they are 

 drilling then* young in the art of flymg. 



At certain seasons these birds search the dry heather of the 

 downs for insects and grubs ; and not long after they are found 

 feedingon shell-fish in the moist and swampy ditches. They are 

 fine eating, and their eggs bear a high price in the market. 



The shooting of them in the sunimer months is a fine recreation. 

 It requires a pecuhar knack to bring them down with certainty. 

 The rapidity with which they vary their position when on the 

 ground, seldom admits of a grand combination for a sitting, or 

 rather a running shot. On the whole, when on the Aving, their 

 mode of flight is favourable to the shot telling upon them in 

 vital quarters. No. ^ shot is generally recommmended for this 

 hhd. 



The Golden Plover {Charadrms Phwialis, Linn.)— This bird is 

 described as bcin^^ about seven or eight ounces in weight, and its 

 length about ten inches and a half. The bill is a Httle more than 

 one inch in length, dusky in its hue. The irides are hazel. The 



feneral plamage above is dusky, spotted with greenish yellow, 

 righter on the back and scapulars, and palest on the wing-coverts. 

 The sides, head, and neck of the body are lighter-coloui-ed ; and 

 the middle of the belly and vent are wMte. The quills ai-e dusky. 



