512 
THE STORY OF THE BIRDS. 
differs at all seasons by its white secondaries, and in the breeding-plumage 
by the pale chestnut hue of the head and neck. The habits of the avocets 
are similar to those of stilts. 
Plover—The plover is a bird of powerful and sustained flight, flying 
when in flocks in a more or less wedge-shaped formation, and wheeling in 
the air, especially before pitching on the ground, m a peculiarly graceful 
manner. On the ground it is also equally active, running and walking with 
speed, and frequently wading breast-deep in the shallows. Breeding locally 
in Britain and some other districts of Northwestern Europe, this species has 
its chief nesting-haunts on the fjelds of Norway and the Russian and Sibe¬ 
rian tundras; while in winter it frequents the shores of the Mediterranean, 
whence it wanders as far south as the Cape. It feeds largely by night. The 
nest is formed of dry herbage, with scraps of heath and moss, and situated 
either in a hole in the ground, on a tuft of herbage, under the shelter of a 
bunch of cotton-grass, or, more rarely, among short grass or heath. The 
eggs are very like those of the lapwing, from which they may be distin¬ 
guished by their superior size, the absence of olive in their markings, and 
their brighter color. The parent birds are adepts in the art of inveigling 
away the intruder from the neighborhood of their eggs or young, the latter 
scattering themselves in all directions at the first alarm, to seek protection 
by skulking among the surrounding herbage. 
Crested Penguin—The common name for this bird is rock-hopper. It 
measures twenty-seven inches and is distinguished from the other members 
of the family by a yellow crest of from three to five inches. It is found in the 
greatest numbers on the Falkland Islands. 
Sea Swallow—Properly speaking the sea swallow is a true tern, with 
the crown of the head black and the under parts white or gray. 
Black Cormorant—There are thirty varieties of this family, all having long, 
powerful bodies, long necks and long beaks. The face and throat are naked, 
the legs short and stout and the feet webbed. The best-known member of 
the family is the black cormorant, which ranges over all of Europe, part of 
eastern North America, northern Africa and Egypt and a portion of Asia. 
The plumage of the head and part of the neck is black, in which are inter¬ 
mingled a number of hair-like white feathers. The under-parts, except the 
white patch on the thigh, are bluish-black. In China and Japan cormorants 
have been trained to fish for their masters. When fishing, cormorants often 
swim with their heads below the water. They feed almost exclusively on 
