20 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



the netting system has been virtually abandoned 

 there, though it still flourishes in many parts of 

 Ireland, where this bird is generally known as the 

 " Grey " Plover — not the only instance of a misappli- 

 cation of names in that misguided country ; for full 

 details of the w^ay in which this netting is carried on 

 there, I would refer my readers to Sir R. P. Gallwey's 

 most interesting work, ' The Fowler in Ireland.' 



The flesh of this species, when in good order and 

 not over-roasted, is, in my opinion and that of many 

 others, about as delicious as the flesh of feathered 

 fowl can be, and always commands a good price in 

 the market, but in many instances I have found that 

 Peewits, much inferior though by no means bad birds 

 for the table, have been served up in hotels and 

 restaurants — to say nothing of a certain famous 

 " Hall " at Oxford — as Golden Plovers, and charged 

 for accordingly, I need hardly say that unless the 

 bird is deprived of its feet this fraud is easily detected, 

 by the hind toe of the Peewit, which is absent in the 

 Golden Plover. 



This bird is a common winter visitor to all suitable 

 districts in Southern Europe and the Mediterranean 

 coasts of North Africa ; I have met with it in great 

 numbers on the lower Guadalquivir from Seville 

 down to the sea, and found vast flocks in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Tunis. In S. Spain the Golden Plover 

 lingers occasionally till the beginning of April, and 

 I have shot several in the month of March that had 

 nearly completed the vernal change of colour on the 

 breast from white to jet-black. 



The food of this species appears to consist prin- 

 cipally of earthworms, small beetles and mollusca, in 

 captivity they will feed readily on raw meat finely 



