PEEWIT. 
45 
In Orkney they appear in great abundance in March, and 
remain until the end of October, at which time the greater 
number migrate southwards. A few however remain stationary 
throughout the year. They abound also in the Shetland Isles. 
In Ireland they are common and indigenous. 
They collect into large flocks in the autumn, the component 
parts thereof resolving themselves into their respective 
individualities in the spring. 
Lapwings can hardly be called migratory birds, as some 
are to be seen nearly throughout the year, but at the end of 
February or the beginning of March they arrive, first in small 
and then in greater numbers, on the downs and other open 
places, frequenting the same haunts annually. They then pair 
and separate, and so spread themselves over the face of the 
country. In November, or later if the weather has been till 
then open, they retire southwards. They are extremely good 
birds to eat in the autumn and winter, but indifferent in the 
summer. 
They are often kept in gardens, where they are very 
serviceable in devouring insects, and at the same time 
ornamental. One has been known to have lived in this half- 
domesticated state for fourteen years. Bewick gives an account 
of one thus kept by the Rev. J. Carlyle, vicar of Newcastle; 
when ‘winter deprived it of its usual supply, necessity soon 
compelled it to draw nearer the house, by which it gradually 
became familiarized to occasional interruptions from the family. 
At length a servant, when she had occasion to go into the 
back kitchen with a light, observed that the Lapwing always 
uttered his cry, ‘pee-wit,’ to obtain admittance. He soon grew 
more familiar; as the winter advanced he approached as far 
as the kitchen, but with much caution, as that part of the 
house was generally inhabited by a dog and a cat, whose 
friendship the Lapwing at length conciliated so entirely, that 
it was his regular custom to resort to the fireside as soon as 
it grew dark, and spend the evening and night with his two 
associates, sitting close by them, and partaking of the comforts 
of a warm fireside. As soon as spring appeared he left off 
coming to the house, and betook himself to the garden; but 
on the approach of winter, he had recourse to his old shelter 
and his old friends, who had received him very cordially. 
Security was productive of insolence; what was obtained with 
caution was afterwards taken without reserve; he frequently 
amused himself with washing in the bowl which was set for 
