292 LAPWING. 



the time uttering her peculiar wailing " pee weety- 

 weet " in her endeavours to draw away the intruder 

 from her nest. So clever are these birds at leaving 

 their nests unseen, that I have walked into a meadow 

 where I knew numbers were breeding and not a bird 

 was visible ; no sooner had I got into the field, how- 

 ever, than first one was seen overhead, then another 

 and a third until the air was soon full of their sad 

 notes, yet never a single one did I see leave the ground. 

 I almost believed that they watched when my back 

 was turned. Indeed only twice have I ever been able 

 to walk straight to the spot where I have seen a bird 

 run and come upon the eggs. Yet it is said that so 

 expert do men become at finding them, that they can 

 even tell from the flight of the bird in the air the exact 

 position of the nest. For Peewits' eggs are sent in 

 many thousands to the London markets yearly, being 

 considered a great delicacy, and fetch from fourpence 

 to sixpence each ; the very first eggs obtained this last 

 season (1894) were purchased at the price of ten shil- 

 lings each for the royal table at Windsor. 



Peewits frequent the open and uncultivated dis- 

 tricts ; marshy and low-lying lands are favourite haunts 

 with them. They are very active at nights and obtain 

 most of their food in the evening. This consists of 

 worms and snails, insects and grubs, also seed in the 

 winter. The nest is a small hollow scratched in the 

 ground, and scantily lined with a few bits of dry grass 

 and bents. In this four eggs are laid, all turned to- 

 wards the centre, and they vary in their colouring to 

 quite an extraordinary degree, and also in their size. 

 The ground colour is variously described from different 

 specimens as yellowish olive, pale green, dull cream- 

 coloured, pale yellowish grey, dull dark yellow, dull 



