﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  181 
  

  

  Vanellus 
  vulgaris, 
  Bechst. 
  Lapwing. 
  

  

  Load 
  Names. 
  — 
  Teuchet, 
  Wallop, 
  Peeweet, 
  Wallack, 
  Wallochie-weet, 
  

   Peesie, 
  Peesweep. 
  

  

  Early 
  in 
  the 
  century 
  the 
  Lapwing 
  was 
  a 
  comparatively 
  rare 
  bird 
  in 
  

   the 
  north 
  of 
  our 
  present 
  area, 
  and 
  usually 
  only 
  a 
  summer 
  visitor. 
  

   About 
  fifty 
  years 
  ago 
  a 
  few 
  remained 
  through 
  the 
  winter, 
  and 
  now 
  

   it 
  is 
  not 
  by 
  any 
  means 
  uncommon 
  at 
  that 
  season 
  of 
  the 
  year, 
  

   though 
  the 
  great 
  bulk 
  of 
  the 
  vast 
  flocks 
  that 
  haunt 
  the 
  head 
  of 
  

   the 
  Beauly 
  Firth 
  in 
  the 
  early 
  autumn 
  leaves 
  for 
  the 
  south 
  towards 
  

   the 
  end 
  of 
  October. 
  

  

  We 
  have 
  notes 
  of 
  the 
  Lapwing 
  from 
  the 
  whole 
  of 
  our 
  area, 
  

   though, 
  of 
  course, 
  varying 
  in 
  numbers 
  according 
  as 
  the 
  ground 
  is 
  

   suited 
  or 
  not 
  to 
  its 
  requirements. 
  They 
  are 
  numerous 
  at 
  Inver- 
  

   garry, 
  but 
  rare 
  at 
  Guisachan. 
  We 
  saw 
  one 
  pair 
  in 
  the 
  wilds 
  of 
  

   Glen 
  Affric. 
  At 
  Tain 
  they 
  are 
  very 
  common 
  from 
  March 
  to 
  

   October 
  (Jennings), 
  and 
  are 
  abundant 
  all 
  the 
  way 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  Ord, 
  

   but 
  less 
  so 
  in 
  winter. 
  

  

  The 
  O.S.A. 
  says 
  little, 
  but 
  gives 
  Kirkhill 
  (North-west 
  Moray), 
  

   and 
  Kirkmichael 
  (Glenavon), 
  as 
  localities. 
  Dr. 
  J. 
  O. 
  Wilson 
  says 
  it 
  

   is 
  abundant 
  in 
  Deveron 
  valley; 
  and 
  all 
  local 
  lists 
  include 
  it, 
  usually 
  

   as 
  common. 
  Our 
  own 
  experience 
  teaches 
  us 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  common 
  all 
  

   down 
  the 
  valleys 
  from 
  high 
  up 
  among 
  summits 
  of 
  the 
  Carn 
  dis- 
  

   tricts 
  and 
  valleys, 
  all 
  through 
  the 
  haughs 
  and 
  cultivated 
  slopes, 
  

   to 
  the 
  dry-field 
  acres 
  along 
  the 
  coasts. 
  They 
  are 
  not, 
  however, 
  

   to 
  be 
  compared 
  in 
  numbers 
  with 
  those 
  in 
  many 
  other 
  parts 
  of 
  

   Scotland, 
  such, 
  for 
  instance, 
  as 
  the 
  island 
  of 
  Tiree 
  (vide 
  Fauna 
  of 
  

   Argyll, 
  p. 
  166). 
  The 
  eggs 
  all 
  over 
  Moray, 
  even 
  far 
  up 
  near 
  the 
  

   sources 
  of 
  the 
  rivers, 
  are 
  systematically 
  taken 
  to 
  supply 
  the 
  

   London 
  market, 
  and 
  the 
  Lapwing 
  is 
  spoken 
  of 
  all 
  over 
  our 
  area 
  

   as 
  decidedly 
  scarcer 
  than 
  formerly. 
  We 
  know 
  that 
  about 
  a 
  

   hundred 
  and 
  forty 
  dozens 
  of 
  their 
  eggs 
  passed 
  through 
  the 
  hands 
  

   of 
  one 
  middleman 
  in 
  one 
  small 
  town 
  in 
  Banffshire 
  before 
  the 
  15th 
  

   April 
  1893. 
  A 
  favourite 
  ground 
  of 
  the 
  Lapwing 
  is 
  the 
  central 
  

   moor 
  of 
  Rothiemurchus, 
  where 
  the 
  great 
  acreage 
  of 
  pine 
  was 
  cut 
  

   in 
  order 
  to 
  supply 
  sleepers 
  for 
  the 
  Highland 
  Railway 
  in 
  1864. 
  

   We 
  saw 
  them 
  there 
  in 
  abundance 
  in 
  June 
  1891. 
  

  

  Lapwings 
  are 
  seen 
  even 
  in 
  midwinter, 
  but 
  the 
  bulk 
  migrate, 
  

   and 
  the 
  successive 
  steps 
  of 
  their 
  departure 
  in 
  common 
  with 
  other 
  

  

  