Birds by Land and Sea 



upwards, to repeat the feat again and again. All the 

 while the bird utters its wild cry, a long-drawn 

 nasal sound, followed by the more distinctly ar- 

 ticulated "Pee-witf" (Birds have no labials for 

 obvious reasons among their approximations to 

 consonantal forms ; and the French form of the 

 bird's cry " Dix-huit ! " is instructive, as showing 

 the different rendering of the consonantal, but the 

 similar rendering of the vowel, form.) Then it 

 dashes along in low straight flight, and, as it passes, 

 the deep hum of its wings attests the stress of 

 motion. 



Besides its name of pewit and lapwing the 

 former taken from its cry, and the latter from the 

 slow flapping of its wings during its ordinary flight 

 the bird has its name of plover from "pluvier," 

 the " rain-bird," as it might be translated, although 

 this name was more distinctively applied to the 

 golden plover on account of the great numbers of 

 these birds which appeared migrating at the time of 

 the spring and autumn rains. The term, however, has 

 a certain appropriateness as applied to the lapwing or 

 green plover ; for, I have been struck by the restless, 

 excited evolutions of the lapwing when skies were 

 heavy with rain ; and as the underwing and body 

 flashed white against the lowering clouds I have 

 seemed to see the glint of gulls' white wings on a 

 black horizon as they wheeled and hovered mewing, 

 presageful of storm, over a leaden sea. 



The lapwing's cry may be heard often quite late 

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