A PUGILIST AND MOUNTEBANK. 
101 
the back of the head, and turning upward at the end, which 
adds greatly to the elegance of its appearance. The common 
names of the bird are derived from its peculiar mode of 
flight, and from its singular cry, resembling the word peewit 
or peesweejj, uttered in a shrill Avavering manner; its general 
length is about thirteen inches, extent of wings thirty 
inches. It is a constant resident in Britain, being pretty 
generally distributed, and frequenting heaths, moors, and 
marshy pastures, in summer, and often resorting to the sea 
coast in winter. The following account of its habits, 
evidently the result of close observation, is from * Wayside 
Notes on British Birds,' published in Chambers's Journal 
for May, 1862 :— 
Of all the British birds that furnish entertainment to the waysido 
observer, commend me, during a part of the year at least, to the Lap- 
wing. All through the summer, or breeding season, this bird seems 
to be an ornithological compound of the shrill fishwife, the pugilist, 
and the mountebank. No right of passage will it grant through its 
temporary dominions to any other bird. The Eook, master of so 
many, finds a complete master here. The pugnacity of the Lapwing 
is only equalled by its agility. The swiftness of its flight, which 
at any other time is of a very ordinary kind, can, when roused 
to action, be increased to something remarkable, and is dreadfully 
annoying to the clumsier Kook, which is often perplexed at tho 
sudden dexterity of the Lapwing's charge. Rising with a graceful 
sweep far above its antagonist, it will come down with a rush and 
a scream, as if it would bear all before it to the earth. After it has 
successfully driven away all intruders, it will join its mate in a kind of 
airy dance, or waltz on the wing, then dash with loud cry to within a 
few inches of the ground, as if struck with a bullet or a sudden fit of 
apoplexy. Though the Peewit, or Peeswecp, as it is called in the 
north, is so very audacious in attacking birds, it assumes a dilferent 
demeanour towards men. The many curious ways it has of luring 
people from the vicinity of its nest, or what serves as such, are so 
well known, that all searchers for its now valuable eggs — which are 
sold as Plovers' — are aware that their only chance of success lies in 
paying no regard whatever to the parent bird. 
Numerous as are its wiles, it would have fared hard indeed with 
the Lapwings of one district had they not found a powerful protector 
in that special prerogative of gentlemen — game preserving. Instead 
of the usual notice from the dealer that he would be at such a place, 
on such a day, to give the best price for Peasweep-eggs, &c., the 
searchers for this delicacy had one of a more ominous nature from 
Sir Gregory Grouse, that all trespassers would be prosecuted accord- 
ing to law. It was amusing to hear the rustic guesses at why 
