194 GAME BIRDS AND WILD FOWL. 



mound or tussock, and lined with dry grass, 

 sedge, rushes, or twigs of heather. By the way, 

 the prevalent notion that the eggs of the rook are 

 frequently sold as those of the plover is without 

 foundation simply because they bear no resem- 

 blance whatever to each other, and even the most 

 unscrupulous vendor would hardly dare to attempt 

 so palpable a hoax on the least experienced of 

 purchasers. That of the peewit is pear-shaped 

 as is the case with most grallatores that is to say, 

 it is considerably attenuated at the narrower end. 

 The ground colour is brownish olive, and the sur- 

 face is blotched with large and irregular patches 

 of rusty black. It is moreover half as large again 

 as the rook's, which is of an oval form, the ground 

 tint bluish green, with slate coloured and darker 

 marks not unlike those on the egg of a blackbird 

 which indeed might almost be considered a 

 miniature likeness of the rook's. The most fasti- 

 dious epicure may therefore make his mind easy 

 on this subject. 



The eggs of the ruff (machetes pugnax), the red- 

 shank (totanus calidris), the golden plover, (cha- 

 radrius pluvialis) and other vermivorous waders ; 

 nay even those of many species of gulls and terns 

 bear a much stronger resemblance to the lap- 

 wing's, and no doubt frequently find their way 

 into the market under the denomination of ' plo- 



