PLOVERS 29 



tions carried on in one large field I know, that hard 

 measures had to be adopted to stop them. 



The Rooks used to fly over the hedge on to 

 the main road to do their egg-sucking ; but they 

 dropped their eggs as quickly — it may be a trifle 

 quicker — as they picked them up, for two or three 

 shots rang out as they flighted over the hedge. 

 Then you heard " quark-e-e-e, gorble gorble gorble, 

 quark-e-e-e-e ! " the death-song of the dying Rooks. 

 After that they were taken into the field and spread- 

 eagled out on the ground, as a notice to the others 

 to — ware Pewits ! 



If the young Pewits remain perfectly still it is 

 almost impossible to detect them ; it is the over- 

 done acting of the parents that betrays the young 

 at times. For they roll and scuffle in a sad state 

 of mortal injury close to you ; probably if you 

 chanced to look down, almost at your feet you 

 would see the young birds. No one takes young 

 Pewits, for it is not only cruel, but perfectly useless. 

 Two of our most interesting marsh-land sights were 

 to see the Lapwings come on the flats to feed, and 

 the Starlings go to roost in the reed-beds ; for the 

 bed-time of the Starlings was the feeding-time of 

 the Lapwings. It was wonderful to watch two 

 vast hosts of birds of different flight on the wing 

 at one time, the flapping veering of the Pewits 

 showing, now black and now white, as alterations 

 in their aerial manoeuvres occurred ; the rush 

 and roar of the Starlings as they went through 

 their sunset evolutions with military precision,. 



