10 



The nest is small, and very artfully concealed. 

 If deprived of their first nest, one pair will continue 

 attempting to rear a brood till late in the season, 

 even after being robbed of three or four sets of 

 eggs. 



They feed their young generally on the body 

 of a largish yellow moth. I observed several pairs 

 carrying a white substance in their mouths to their 

 nests, which I could not make out, and on shooting 

 one bird from each of two nests, I discovered that 

 the food was identical in both cases. The wings of 

 the moth had been removed, and I was not 

 entomologist enough to name the species, but I 

 observed that the birds hunted for their prey 

 among the lower part of the stems of the furze. 



The specimens in the case were taken near 

 Brighton, in July, 1869. 



PEEWIT. 



Case 13. 



This species is abundant in the British Islands 

 from north to south, though its numbers would 

 doubtless be far greater, were it not for the 

 persecution it undergoes by being robbed of its 

 eggs, which, unfortunately for the bird, have a 

 great reputation as a dainty dish. 



In autumn arid winter Peewits collect in large 

 flocks, and make their appearance on the mudbanks 

 in the neighbourhood of the coast. 



I do not know whether it is generally allowed 

 that the numbers of our native birds are increased 

 during the winter by arrivals from abroad ; I have, 

 however, on two separate occasions observed large 

 flocks in the North Sea, at a considerable distance 

 from land, evidently making for some part of our 

 eastern coast. 



The specimens in the case were obtained on 

 Gullane Links, in East Lothian, in May, 1867. 



