i04 
C H A 
Irifli, Gothic, &c. Oriental characters are thofe peculiar 
to the eailern nations, and are commonly underftood of 
the Hebrew, Chaldean, Armenian, Coptic, Arabic, Per- 
iic, &c. See Language, and Pantography. 
Numeral Characters, are thofe ufed in notation, as 
the ligns of given numbers, quantities, &c. for which fee 
Arithmetic. 
P af,graphical Characters, are marks or figures lately 
introduced by feveral modern philologilts, with a view 
to ettablifli an uninjerfal language. See Pasigraphy, 
and Language. 
CHA'RACTERY, f Impreffion, mark, diftinblion ; 
accented anciently on the fecond Jyllable: 
All my engagements I will conftrue to thee. 
Ail the ckarafiery of my fad brows. Shakefpeare. 
CHARA'DE,/. A fpecies of compofition or literary 
amulement in the nature of an enigma. Its fubjeCt mult 
be a word of two fyllables, each forming a diftinCt word; 
and thefe two fyllables are to be concealed in an enig¬ 
matical defeription, firft (eparately, and then together; 
as in the following examples, one in prole, and the other 
in verle: 
My firft, with the molt rooted antipathy to a French¬ 
man, prides liimfelf, whenever they meet upon flicking 
clofe to his jacket. My fecond has many virtues, nor is 
it its leaft that it gives name to my firft. My whole, may 
I never catch thee ! Tar-tar. 
My firft is called bad or good, 
May pleafure or offend ye ; 
My fecond in a thirlty mood, 
May very much befriend ye. 
My whole, tho’ ftyl’d “ a cruel word,” 
May yet appear a kind one ; i 
It often may with joy be heard, 
With tears may often blind one. Fare-well. 
CHARA'DRIUS, f [from xapatya, an excavation or 
fiffure.] In ornithology, the Plover, a genus of birds 
belonging to the order of grallas, and of which there are 
thirty fpecies, befides varieties. It received its generic 
name from its fleeping in the clefts or fiffures of rocks. 
The charafters are : Bill fomewhat taper, obtule; nof- 
trils linear. Feetcurfory; three-toed. Plovers are found 
in England all the year; but in greatell plenty during 
the autumnal rains. They frequent the wet bottoms and 
ilimy grounds, where they fearch for worms and infe&sa 
they go into the water in the morning to wafh their bill 
and feet; a habit which is common ajfo to the wood¬ 
cocks, the lapwings, the curlews, and many other birds 
which feed on worms. Though they are ufually very 
fat, their inteftines are generally found to be empt)'; lo 
that it has been fuppofed the foft lubftance of the worms 
turns wholly into nourilhment, and leaves little excre¬ 
ment. They feem, however, capable of l'upporting a 
long abftinence : Schwenckfeld fays, that he kept one 
fourteen days, which, during the whole time, only drank 
fome water, and fwallowed a few grains of land. They 
feldom remain more than twenty-four hours in the fame 
place, being fond of removing to other paftures. The 
firft fnows compel them to leave our climates ; however, 
a confiderable number of them remain till the hard frofts. 
They return in fpring, and always in flocks; a Angle 
plover is never to be feen. When on the ground they 
are incefiantly engaged in fearch of food; they are al- 
moft perpetually in motion, and are remarkably fhy and 
wary; feveral keep watch while the reft of the flock are 
feeding, and on the leaft fymptom of danger they utter 
a (brill fcream, which is the fignal of flight. On wing, 
they follow the wind, and maintain a Angular ar¬ 
rangement. Advancing in front, they form in the 
air tranfverfe zones, very narrow and exceedingly 
long: lometimes there are feveral of thefe zones pa¬ 
rallel, of fmall depth, but wide extended in crofts lines 
When on-the ground they run much, and "very Iwift- 
i 
C H A 
ly; they continue in a flock the whole day, and only 
feparate to pafs the night: they difperfe in the evening 
to their haunts, wdrere each repoles apart; but at day¬ 
break, the one firft awake, or the mod watchful, which 
fowlers term the caller, gives a (brill cry, and in an in- 
ftant they all obey the lummons, and collect together. 
This is the time cholen for catching them : a clap-net 
is ftretched before dawn, facing the place where they 
deep ; a number of fowlers encircle it, and as foon as 
the call is heard, they throw themfelves flat on the 
ground till the birds gather; then they rife up, (bout, 
and throw flicks into the air; lo that the plovers are 
frightened, and, (kimming along with a low flight, they 
ftrike againft the net, which drops upon them, and 
numbers are taken. This plan is ufually attended 
with great fuccefs; but a Angle bird-catcher can in 
a more fimple way enfnare confiderable numbers : he 
conceals himfelf behind his net, and attracts the birds 
by means of a call. They are efteemed in mod coun¬ 
tries as excellent game. We know but little of their 
natural hiftory. Tranfient guefts rather than inhabitants 
of our fields, they difappear on the fnow’s falling; re- 
pafs without halting in the fpring, and leave us when 
the other birds arrive. It would feem that the gentle 
warmth of that feafon, which awakens the dormant fa¬ 
culties of the other birds, makes a contrary imprefliou 
on the plovers : they proceed to the more northern coun¬ 
tries to breed, and rear their young, for, during the whole 
fummer, w r e rarely fee them. Then they inhabit Lap- 
land, and other parts of the north of Europe, and pro¬ 
bably thofe of Afia. Their progrefs is the fame in A- 
merica ; they are obferved in the fpring at Hudfon’s Bay 
advancing farther north. After arriving in flocks in 
thofe arbtic trafts, they feparate into pairs; and the 
more intimate union of love breaks, or rather fufpends 
for a time, the general fociety. Hence Klein, an inha¬ 
bitant of Dantzick, was led to remark, that the ployers 
live folitary in low' grounds and meadows. 
i. Charadrius Pluvialis, the golden plover; length 
ten inches and a half; bill one inch; the upper part of 
the plumage du(ky, (potted with golden yellow; round 
the eyes and the chin almofl white; fides of the head, 
the neck, and fides of the body, the fame as the upper 
parts, but much paler; middle of the belly dufley wdrite; 
tail barred with yellow ; legs black. Individuals of this 
fpecies often vary in colour; in fome the belly is black, 
in others (potted ; and a fmall claw' is fometimes ob¬ 
ferved inftead of an hind toe. The male and female dif¬ 
fer very little. In young birds the fpots are not of a 
full yellow colour, inclining more to grey. This elegant 
fpecies is found in England the whole year, and breeds 
on feveral of our unfrequented mountains ; is very com¬ 
mon on thofe of the Ifle of Rum, and the loftier Hebrides. 
Alfo on the Grampian, and all the heathy hills of the 
highlands of Scotland. They make a thrill whittling 
noile, and may be inticed within gun-fhot by a fkilfui 
imitator of their voice. Their eggs are four in number, 
two inches and one-eighth in length, pointed infliape, of 
a pale cinereous olive, marked with blackiih fpots. On 
the continent they are met with in Sweden, Denmark, 
Lapland, Iceland, and other northern parts ; to the fouth 
as far as Aleppo; and, if the fpecies be not miftaken, 
in the ifland of Batavia, as well as in China: our laft 
voyagers met with them at Owhyhee, and York Iflands, 
in the South Seas, but of a fmaller fize. In America 
they inhabit the coaft of Labrador, and Hudfon’s Bay; 
from thence to New York, as low as Carolina; migrat¬ 
ing from one to the other according to the fealons ; and 
often to the ifland of St. Domingo and Cayenne. There 
is a fmaller variety of this fpecies, which feems to differ 
only in fize. 
2. Charadrius Rubidus, or ruddy plover; bill ftrait, 
one inch long, and black; head, neck, bread, wing co¬ 
nverts, and thofe of the tail of a ruddy colour, lpotted 
with black, and powdered with white; in the fcapulars 
and 
