88 WILD LIFE IN CHINA. 



allow visitors too near, especially where he has learnt the 

 deadly effects of modern firearms. Unlike the golden plover, 

 the peewit has four toes, the one behind being fully developed.. 

 Seen at his best, and when quite unconsciousof the watching 

 intruder, the peewit shows to great advantage. In the first 

 place there is a fine crest on the top of his head, and this he 

 can erect at will. There is a bright metallic green and purple 

 lustre in the darker parts of the back, the head, and the 

 breast, but these are brightened by lighter coloured feathers 

 round and beneath the eye and ear, though even these 

 feathers are speckled with black. The primary wing feathers 

 have a whitish tip to them, otherwise they are a glossy black.- 

 Thetailisblackand whitewith coverts of a rufous tinge. When 

 on the wing the black and white markings are as distinct as 

 those of the magpie. No other bird could possibly be mistaken 

 for a peewit on the wing, the form of the body and wings,, 

 together with the peculiar method of flapping them, being 

 entirely unique. Peewits are essentially gregarious. Even 

 in the breeding season they keep more or less together, and 

 vast numbers of their eggs are taken for the London market, 

 plovers' eggs being considered more or less of a dainty, thus 

 leading, it is to be feared, to the robbing of many other nests 

 besides those of V. Cristatus. The true-born Cockney is 

 easily deceived respecting all matters relating to country life. 



It is not a common thing to find many peewits in the 

 immediate neighbourhood of Shanghai at any time, but in 

 some parts of the province they live and thrive in great 

 numbers. They are as well known as the partridge for their 

 cleverness in drawing off either dogs or men from their nest 

 and young. In late spring and early summer one sees great 

 numbers of them in the moister parts of lower Siberia 

 through which the railway runs. There in marshy districts 

 they probably find ample room for nesting free from all 

 interference except that of their natural enemies, hawks, 

 weasels, etc. 



A third plover must not be omitted from our little 

 catalogue — the grey peewit (Chettusia ciiierea). Readers 

 will find one specimen in the Shanghai Museum in the case 

 in the S. E. corner. The grey peewit is longer in the legs 

 than nis cousin, and altogether different in plumage. His 

 head and back are grey, but there is a very dark patch on 

 his breast, though lower down he is quite white. Both tail 

 and wings are tipped with black. The body is bigger than 

 that of the peewit, buf not very much. In my own experience 

 the bird is not common in this neighbourhood. I shot one 

 once after a somewhat long and difficult stalk, and sent it to 

 be stuffed. There is nothi ng particularly attractive in the 

 plumage of the grey peewit, yet its comparative rarity and 



