228 THE LAPWING. 



grounds, and sub-alpine moors. Wherever these are 

 situated, either on the shore or inland, may be found 

 the haunt of the peewits. They congregate at first 

 early in the spring, then separate into pairs as they 

 proceed to breed. At the season of incubation the 

 inland moors are covered with them, huddling and 

 tumbling about in their anxiety to deter the wayfarer 

 from approaching their nests, and performing the 

 while those beautiful evolutions of flight for which 

 the tribe is remarkable, and which exhibit to such 

 advantage the peculiar beauty, variety, and glossiness 

 of the lapwings' feather tints, as they are seen by 

 myriads dancing and darting to and fro in the sum- 

 mer sunsets. They chiefly feed noctumally, or at 

 dusk, Plovers' eggs so named, are those of the pee- 

 wit ; and the young birds' flesh is by no means to be 

 despised as a table delicacy. The nests of this bird are 

 found by dogs trained for the purpose ; their instinct of 

 scent is made use of, and they will point as at game 

 till the eggs are taken. In the full plumage of the 

 peewit, the crown, &c., is black, finely glossed with 

 purple ; the feathers, springing from the occiput in a 

 waving plume or crest, are narrow, long, and black, 

 curving gracefully upwards, and to be raised at will 

 erect ; round the throat a yellow white is encircled, 

 a sort of oval patch on either side below the eye is 

 pure white ; the nape of neck is pale brown, beyond 

 the most glossy black and purple ; the back and 

 wings a splendid olive green, having rainbow reflec- 

 tions of deeper tints of blue and steel colour, and 



