almost as simultan- 
eously as starlings ; 
and although they 
move about, more or 
less, all through the 
day, they are always 
_n 
%, 
4 
more active towards 
the evening. They 
do no harm of any 
kind whatever. On 
the contrary, they 
are distinctly useful, 
for they devour enormous quantities of slugs, snails, and 
grubs, and for this reason are often kept in gardens, their 
wings being clipped to prevent them from flying away. And 
they are also valuable as producing the famous “ plovers’ 
eggs,’ which fetch so high a price in the early spring. 
These eggs look conspicuous enough as they lie 
in a basket in a game-dealer’s window; but they 
are nevertheless very difficult to see in the slight 
hollow in the ground which serves as a nest, their 
colours harmonizing most wonderfully with those of . 
the surrounding soil. They are 
not covered in any way at all, 
and, four in number, are always 
arranged in the form of a cross, 
46 
