Sept., 1882.] 
AND OOLOGIST. 
159 
is fully comprehended iu practice, im¬ 
mense chestnuts can be climbed by merely 
toucliing the tips of the fingers in the 
ridges of bark. The breast and knees 
must be kept away from the tree, the 
proper position being like a horizontal let¬ 
ter V. Watch the line-men at work upon 
the telephone and Western Union poles 
and fair examples may be often seen. 
Scientific climbing, then, is the exact 
opposite of “shinning,” and if you have 
been accustomed to the primitive method, 
it must all be unlearned here. Remember, 
the moment the centre of the body comes 
near the tree the spurs will lose their grip. 
The eyes and feet do the work, and not 
the arms as indicated in the extract used 
for our text. If the arms are “ thrown 
around” the tree the climber cannot see 
his feet; but with the body at the proper 
angle he will see where to strike each foot 
and cannot fail to notice that one spur is 
all right before pulling out the other. 
After careful practice will come con¬ 
fidence and rapid work, which it will be a 
pleasure to witness, and which will be sat¬ 
isfying to the pride of the climber. It is 
as pleasurable to me in all respects to see 
a bit of scientific climbing as to witness a 
fine piece of skating or dancing. I have 
in mind now three trees, pronounced inac¬ 
cessible by farmers, which my climber 
ascended without hesitation. One, a 
chestnut four feet in diameter and forty 
feet without a limb, the cradle of Great 
horned Owls. Another, a smooth black- 
oak. limbless for fifty feet, the home of 
Buteos. The third is a shining pine shaft 
in the Ledyard Cedar Swamp, barkless 
through lightning, on which a Fish Haw'k 
had stuck its heap of rubbish. When I 
reflect on this expert’s apparently natural 
yet scientific work, never making a false 
strike, ascending quickly, smoothly, almost 
noiselessly, till he seems like some great 
arboreal animal, I am tempted to head 
this article Climbing as a Fine Art. So it 
is with indignation that I read the mis¬ 
leading paragraphs in Ingersoll’s treatise. 
In that essay stress is laid upon the 
fatigue of using irons. I have heard no 
complaint from climbers, and personal use 
in light work for three seasons has 
brought me no discomfort. It is certainly 
effortless compared with “ shinning.” It is 
well known that shinning is the most ex¬ 
hausting of all work, throwing great 
strain upon the arms and subjecting the 
lungs to an enormous pressure. Any 
iron-worker will make creepers after your 
model, and some little experience is need¬ 
ed before you find a pair of the right 
weight and size and with the proper dip 
to the spurs. All modern ones are kept 
padded at the ankle and points exposed to 
chafing. In conclusion we may add that 
no one who has used climbing-irons will 
be without them in early Spring field 
work, and I find that no inducement can 
make a professional climber shin up a tree 
in the old lung-breaking way.— J. M. IF., 
Norwich^ Conn. 
Lapwung (Vanellns cristatus) Pewit, 
Green Plover, Crested Lapwing.— This 
beautiful bird is distributed over nearly 
the whole of the British Isles and is also 
found in many parts of Europe, in North¬ 
ern Asia and Africa. It is very common 
in China. The common name of this bird 
is from its cry Pee-wit. It can be heard 
during the night as well as the day, for 
the bird ahvays seems to be on the alert. 
In Summer the Lapwings are met with in 
pairs, in Winter in large flocks. In Sum¬ 
mer if any one approaches its breeding 
grounds the Pewit becomes very daring 
and will come to within a few yards of the 
egg hunter, but in Winter it is very diffi 
cult to get within shot of it. The eggs 
are laid in a slight hollow on the ground. 
They are four in number and are very 
beautiful, the ground color being cream 
splashed with dark brown and black. 
The eggs are considered a great delicacy 
and are eagerly sought after, and in 
many parts of the country during the 
