84 BRITISH SEA BIRDS. 



lands to breed, returning coastwards again when the 

 young are reared, especially from the more exposed 

 and elevated localities. The favourite marine 

 haunts of the "Green Plover," or Peewit, as this 

 bird is otherwise called, are rough saltings, mud-flats, 

 and slob-lands ; sands and shingles it rarely visits 

 unless when driven to do so by heavy snowfalls ; 

 and at all times it prefers ground overgrown with 

 herbage to the bare beaches. As this species 

 presents little difference between summer and winter 

 plumage, means for concealment may have some 

 influence in its choice of haunt. When standing 

 or running on the ground the Lapwing is a very 

 ordinary looking bird ; graceful enough, it is true ; 

 but the moment it rises into the air the observer is 

 struck with the singularity of its appearance ; the 

 broad and rounded wings are unfolded and moved 

 in a slow flapping Owl-like manner ; very often 

 grotesque evolutions are indulged in, the bird rising 

 and swooping down again, turning and twisting in a 

 most erratic way, and all the time persistently 

 uttering the wild, mewing, plaintive cry that is 

 absolutely characteristic of this Plover an un- 

 mistakable and unique note among birds. It may 

 be expressed on paper as a nasal pee-weet, frequently 

 modulated into weet-a-weet, pee-iveet-weet. 



As the autumn days draw on the Lapwing 

 becomes more gregarious, often forming into flocks 

 of enormous size, which wander about a good deal 

 as the varying weather affects their supply of food. 



