SEAFOWL SHOOTING SKETCHES. 79 



of the same tribe. It is not uncommon on the Kibble, and its 

 vivid blue back and red breast are most beautiful when, on a 

 bright sunny day, it darts by like an arrow. Its call is very loud 

 and shrill, and has a peculiar weirdness, so that once heard it is 

 not soon forgotten. 



In old times the kingfisher was supposed to either influence the 

 weather or be influenced by it. The latter, doubtless, is correct 

 enough, both with kingfishers and human beings. At any rate, 

 the little bird's skin was suspended from the ceiling, and then 

 it was thought the bill would turn the way the wind was to be 

 expected from. I think Sir Humphrey Davy refers to this in his 

 " Salmonia; or, Days of Fly Fishing," a quaint old book. 



The kingfisher sits on some low twig over-hanging the water, 

 or on a stone by the river's edge, from whence it darts down on 

 the small fish below, and, once within its long bill, small chance 

 has the finny prey to escape. 



THE KNOT. 



Sometimes seen in immense flocks. It is scarcely necessary 

 to refer to the traditional fondness for them displayed by King 

 Canute. It may or may not be true they were named after the 

 King, but it is one of the good old tales we prefer to believe. I 

 once succeeded in capturing a knot alive by stealthily approaching 

 it, and on its taking flight knocking it down by a blow from a 

 walking-stick ! 



THE LAPWING. 



Green plover, black plover, peewit, teuit, or pewit. A most 

 numerous species of fen bird, both inland and on the shore, and 

 wherever there is marshy land. Few people are aware of the 

 numbers that flock to the river on a windy night. Just at dusk 

 they come, sometimes in hundreds, and so low as almost to 

 brush against the expectant gunner, it being customary to wait 

 concealed in some ditch. This sport is called flighting, and is 

 generally, according to books, followed in connection with duck 

 shooting, but according to one's own experience the lapwing is 

 the principal game of the flighter, whatever may have been the 

 case in the days of Hawker, Lacy, Folkard, and other eminent 

 votaries of wild fowling. 



THE MOOR HEN. 



Water hen a genuine water bird, frequenting both streams 

 and pits, where it is an attractive object, as it glides along the 

 surface of the water with the sun shining on its bright red crest. 

 Some time ago, when "calling" landrails in the early morning, 

 a water hen came quietly walking across the grass, and only 



