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THE PEEWIT'S HOME 



" There the winds sweep and the plovers cry." 



THE return of the plovers to their nesting-grounds 

 in the south is always watched with interest by those 

 who are able to compare for any length of time the 

 yearly increase or decrease of bird-life over the same 

 tract of country. During the first weeks of May, when 

 ploughing and sowing are over, and the land lies quiet 

 awaiting the increase of the spring, the graceful peewits, 

 and their "great relations" the stone-curlews, are 

 occupied in the incessant care and protection of their 

 young ; and such is their anxiety and courage in 

 endeavouring to mislead or frighten away intruders, 

 that the number of pairs nesting on a given farm may 

 easily be ascertained if the birds are disturbed. The 

 writer has for many years been in the habit of devoting 

 a few days at this time, partly to a careful observation 

 of these and other birds, nesting on the open ground, 

 near the White Horse Hill, with a view to ascertaining 

 the conditions most favourable to their increase ; and 

 partly to searching the adjacent fir and beech copses, 

 in order to take the eggs of the carrion-crows and 



