120 BIKDS OF GUERNSEY. 



102. PEEWIT. Vanellus vulgaris, Bechstein. 

 French, " Vanneau huppe." The Peewit is a 

 common and rather numerous autumn and winter 

 visitant to all the Islands, though I have never 

 seen it in such large flocks as in some parts of 

 England, especially in Somerset. Those that do 

 come to the Islands appear to take very good care 

 of themselves, for I have always found them very 

 difficult to get a shot at, and very few make their 

 appearance in the market. Though generally a 

 winter visitant, I have seen occasional stragglers 

 in summer. On the 9th July this year (1878), for 

 instance, I saw one fly by me in L'Ancresse Bay ; 

 this was either a young bird, or, if an adult, was 

 not in breeding plumage, as I could clearly see that 

 the throat was white not black, as in the adult in 

 breeding plumage. A few days afterwards, July 

 19th, another or, perhaps, the same was shot 

 by some quarry-men on the common; this was 

 certainly a young bird of the year, and I had a 

 good opportunity of looking at it. In spite of 

 occasional stragglers of this sort making their 

 appearance in the summer, I have never been able 

 to find that the Peewit breeds on any of the 

 Islands ; but, by the 9th of July, stragglers, both 

 old and young, might easily come from the opposite 

 coast of Dorsetshire, where a good many breed, 

 or from the north of France. 



Professor Ansted includes the Peewit in his list, 



