PEEWIT. 517 



number of eggs by the conduct of the female bird." In 

 some counties, however, all the most likely ground is care- 

 fully searched for eggs, once every day, by women and 

 children, without any reference to the actions of the birds. 

 Dr. Plomley sent me word that two hundred dozens of 

 Plovers' eggs were sent from Romney Marsh to Dover in 

 the season of 1839; and that dogs are trained for the 

 purpose of finding the eggs. A slight depression in the 

 ground, and a few dried bents, serve for a nest, in which, 

 if not interfered with, four eggs are generally deposited ; 

 these are about one inch eleven lines long, by one inch 

 four lines in breadth, of an olive-coloured ground, blotched 

 and spotted nearly all over with blackish brown. The 

 young, when hatched, are covered with a yellowish fawn- 

 coloured down, mixed and spotted with brownish black, 

 and, like the chicks of the Dotterel and Ring Plover, with 

 a light-coloured collar round the neck. They soon follow 

 the parent birds, who lead them to the softer parts of the 

 soil, where food is more abundantly obtained. They feed 

 on earth-worms, slugs, and insects in their various stages. 

 From their services in this way, Peewits are frequently 

 kept in gardens, and become very interesting pets. Dr. 

 Latham says, " I have seen this bird approach a worm- 

 cast, turn it aside, and after walking two or three times 

 about it, by way of giving motion to the ground, the 

 worm come out, and the watchful bird, seizing hold of 

 it, draw it forth. The habit of the Peewit, of flying 

 and screaming over the head of any one who happens to 

 go near their eggs or young, was productive formerly of 

 two very opposite feelings towards them. Charles Ander- 

 son, Esq., of Lea, near Gainsborough, to whom I am in- 

 debted for many notes on the Birds of Lincolnshire, sent 

 me word that a very ancient Lincolnshire family, the 

 Tyrwhitts, bear three Peewits for their arms ; and it is 



