SANDPIPER. 277 



of the neck, as far as the breast, black ; hind part white and brown ; 

 back and wings green, the first glossed with purple, the last with 

 blue; quills black, the four first with a white spot at the tips; base 

 half of the secondaries white; breast and belly wholly white; upper 

 tail coverts and vent pale rufous; tail white half way from the base, 

 from thence to the end black ; outer feathers almost wholly white ; 

 the wings reach nearly to the end of it ; legs brownish red. The 

 female is rather smaller, less bright, and the crest shorter. 



This species is pretty common in England, where it remains the 

 whole year; known by the name of Pewit and Green Plover; and 

 in Scotland, Peeseweep. The female lays four eggs, of a dirty olive, 

 spotted with black, and scrapes together a little dry grass for the 

 nest;* the time of sitting is three weeks; the young run within two 

 or three days after they are hatched, but do not fly till nearly full 

 grown. In this state the mother uses great address in decoying the 

 curious intruder from the place of the young, or nest, flying over 

 the head of any one with great noise, and most clamorous when 

 farthest from the place where the young are ; she will also some- 

 times feign to be lame, in order to entice any one to follow her out of 

 the way. Towards winter both young and old collect in flocks of 

 4 or 500, and even more, on our heaths, and are in some places 

 taken in nets for the use of the table ;f the eggs are also accounted 

 a great delicacy, and sometimes sell dearly. J 



This is common to many parts of Europe, extending to the 

 Ferroe Isles, and even to Iceland ;§ frequent in Russia, but becomes 

 very rare beyond the Urallian Chain ; a few met with about the 

 Rivers Ob, and Angara, and beyond the Lake Baikal ; seen in 



* The eggs are invariably placed in a quadrangular form, the four smaller ends touching 

 each other ; and this is common to all the Sandpiper, Plover, and Snipe Genus, the eggs of 

 which are four in number. — Orn. Diet. 



f In the Provinces of Brie and Champaign, in France, are sometimes seen in flocks of 

 thousands, and decoyed into clap-nets, by the playing of a mirror, with the addition of 

 some stuffed birds, with here and there a living one. — Hist, des Ois. 



X Three shillings per dozen not thought a great price. § Brunnich. 



