THE BIRDS OF LINCOLNSHIRE IN l6l2. 



367 



[< THE WOLDS.'] 

 1 . . . 34 that which Holland seems to vaunt her on the most, 

 By me is overmatch'd; the fowl which she doth breed, 

 She in her foggy fens, so moorishly doth feed, 

 That physic oft forbids the patient them for food, 

 But mine more airy are, and make fine spirits and blood : 

 For near this batt'ning isle in me is to be seen, 

 More than on any earth, the Plover 35 gray, and green, 

 The corn-land loving Quail 36 , the daintiest of our bits, 

 The Rail 37 , which seldom comes, but upon rich men's spits : 

 The Puet 38 , Godwit 39 , Stint 40 , the palate that allure, 

 The miser, and do make a wasteful epicure : 



34 What precedes is the chant of the ' Parts of Holland ' in praise of the Fens. 

 The ' Parts of Lindsey ' now takes up the strain in defence of the Wolds. 



35 The Golden Plover, Charadrias phivialis. This is the ' Grey 1 Plover, 

 ' Whistling ' Plover, ' Green ' Plover of old authors. Perhaps in no part of 

 England do we still find larger flocks of the Golden Plover during the winter 

 months ; numbers are shot in the north-eastern marshes, and often form no 

 inconsiderable proportion of the home wild-fowl exposed in the game shops. 

 The true Grey Plover (Squatarola helvetica) rarely occurs at any distance from the 

 sea. The young of this, in the golden-spotted plumage of autumn, was very 

 frequently confounded with the Golden Plover. — J.C. 



36 Coturnix communis nests annually on the Lincolnshire north wolds. The 

 familiar and monotonous call notes may be heard from the time of turnip sowing 

 till harvest, after which they probably leave the district, as they are rarely met 

 with in the shooting season. — J.C. 



37 Rail or Daker-hen — Corncrake, Crex pratetisis. Abundant in some seasons, 

 and less common in others ; of fairly frequent occurrence in September. The 

 Landrail should be cooked when quite fresh ; it was much appreciated by old 

 sportsmen as a delicacy.— J.C. 



38 Peewit or Lapwing, Vanellus vulgaris. — Several isolated farmsteads in North 

 Lincolnshire bear the name of ' Pyewipe ' from the former abundance of this 

 species. Enormous flocks still frequent the east coast marshes and middle marsh 

 district in the winter, and large numbers are netted. — J.C. 



39 Bartailed Godwit {Limosa lapponica) and Blacktailed Godwit (Z. agocephala). 

 The former is a common migrant on the coast of Lincolnshire in the autumn ; 

 again appearing in the spring, during the second week in May, often in very 

 considerable flocks. It very rarely occurs at any distance from the coast. With 

 reference to this species, Fothergill, in the ' Ornithologia Britannica,' 1799, p. 7, 

 says — ' This bird is caught, and shot, mixed with the ruffs, in our marshes, 

 especially in the fens opposite Spurn Point.' In the ' Boston Corporation Records,' 

 1597, appears the entry: — ' To be sent to the Lord Treasurer as a present, one 

 dozen Godwights, five dozen Knots, and one dozen Puets, at the Corporation 

 charge.' The Black-tailed Godwit formerly bred regularly in the fens. It now 

 occurs occasionally in the autumn on the coast, but very rarely in the spring, on 

 the return migration. — J.C. 



40 Stint = Dunlin, Tringa variabilis. 

 Dec. 1886. 



