102 BIRD-LIFE IN WEST-HIGHLAND PARISH 



glossy black disappears, the bird being mottled 

 all over, except that the under parts are now 

 white. No such wonderful transformation takes 

 place with its relative, the lapwing or peewit, 

 which breed here in peace, as no one dreams 

 of robbing them of their eggs. There are few 

 more beautiful or graceful birds than this, with 

 his contrasts of black with metallic green and 

 purple sheen, white and chestnut, and curved 

 crest or horn. Gray tells us that in the Low- 

 lands there still exists a strong dislike on the 

 part of the moorland folk to these poor birds, 

 dating from the ' killing ' days, when the 

 Covenanters in hiding were sometimes be- 

 trayed in their wanderings by the continuous 

 cries of the peewits, as is their custom when 

 disturbed. 



The thrush, here as elsewhere, is one of the 

 first to welcome the lengthening days with his 

 clear notes, but few remain over the winter, 

 finding more congenial quarters on the neigh- 

 bouring seaboard. Its congener, the missel- 

 thrush, is more sparsely represented. This is 

 a courageous bird, the sitting mother sometimes 

 permitting itself to be stroked with the hand ; 

 while intruding jackdaws or even cats are 

 chased away with angry scolding. The black- 

 bird is one of our commonest species ; unlike 



