222 PLOVER. 



place, where fresh birds will continue dropping into the 

 boughs, till you have half filled your bag with them. 

 Observe one thing, however, or you may not kill a bird 

 in a week! Recollect that a woodpigeon, directly he 

 perches, begins to reconnoitre his safety in every di- 

 rection ; and if you move but a finger, when he first 

 alights, he will instantly take wing. But if you will 

 only wait perfectly still for half a minute, you may then 

 present and fire at him as easily as at an owl. 



Although the ringdove or woodpigeon seldom builds 

 anywhere but in dark evergreen trees, such as yew trees, 

 firs, &c., yet, in 1824, one of these birds entered a dove- 

 house of mine ; made her nest in company with the 

 tame pigeons; and hatched her eggs there, notwith- 

 standing a man was repeatedly going in to clean out 

 the place, and take young pigeons. Here she brought 

 up her two young ones, and then took them off with 

 her. This is almost as singular as the circumstance of 

 a partridge, in 1788, having reared sixteen young ones 

 up in a pollard tree, through which went the bars of 

 the stile in a public foot-path. This happened in 

 Essex, on a manor of my late father, of whom Mr. 

 Daniel had the deputation, and was an eyewitness to 

 the circumstance. The particulars of this he very cor- 

 rectly states in his " Rural Sports." 



PLOVER. 



Of the plover tribe there are six sorts : viz. 

 GREAT PLOVER (already named among the Curlews). 



BASTARD PLOVER, LAPWING, or PEEWIT. Fringilla vanellus 

 Le vanneau. 



The one famous for its eggs. 



