found on most parts of the British coast, and along the margins of the
creeks, estuaries, and tidal rivers, and sometimes by the inland lakes
and ponds. It is a bright lively creature, with party-coloured plumage
of black, brown, and white. It plays about on the sands, following the
retiring tide, and fleeing before its advance, as we see children do;
its silky feathers ruffled by the wind, and its shrill clear whistle
making pleasant music amid the rocks, and over the wide wild ocean
scenery. Its eggs are laid in some slight natural hollow in the sand or
small gravel, sheltered by a tuft of reeds or coarse herbage, sometimes
just above high-water mark, but frequently in the marshy grounds
further inland; they are four in number, of a greenish grey, buff, or
cream-colour, spotted and streaked with grey and black, or dark brown.
These birds generally pair in May; the male and female both sit on the
eggs, and are very careful of them and the young. Their general food is
worms, marine and other aquatic insects, shrimps, and small crustaceous
animals. On moonlight nights they may be seen searching diligently with
quick and incessant movements, their white plumes flashing here and
there like silver.
LAPWING.
COMMON, CRESTED, OR, GREEN LAPWING. GREEN PLOVER. LAPWING SANDPIPER.
PEWIT. TEWIT. TEACHET. PEESE-WEEP. FRENCH PIGEON.
FIGURE 35.
_Vanellus cristatus_ is the scientific name of this beautiful bird; the
first term may perhaps come from _vannus_--a fan, and be given to it on
account of the graceful fan-like motion of its glossy green pinions, as
it skims along the shore, or over the wide heaths, or low-lying
marshes, which it most frequents; the specific name means crested, and
has reference to the crest of long black feathers which adorn the head,
and can be raised nearly straight up or depressed at pleasure. We have
called this a beautiful bird, and truly so it is, with bronzy green and
coppery reflections playing over its black back, breast, throat, wings,
top of the head, and end of the tail; the breast, back, and sides of
the neck are pure white, as is part of the tail, and a long patch on
each side of the head; the legs, belly, and under side of the tail, are
all bright orange colour; and then its long shining crest gives it such
a pert and comical air, that it is quite a pleasure to behold.
Lapwings, or Peewits, as they are more generally called, from their
shrill cry, which sounds like the syllables _pe-wit_, or _pees-wit_,
are tolerably familiar birds with us, being found in summer on most wet
heaths, moors, and marshy pastures. It nestles in April, and lays its
four eggs, which, in general, are of a dull green colour, blotted and
irregularly marked with brownish black, in April. A slight depression
in the ground, with perhaps a few straws for lining, suffices for a
nest; it is sometimes placed amid a tuft of rushes or long grass. Being
considered delicate food they are eagerly sought for, and great numbers
are every year taken and exposed for sale in the poulterers' shops in
London and elsewhere.
The Lapwing feeds on worms and insects, runs with great speed, and has
a quick flight, although the flapping of its wings is heavier and more
measured than that of the Plovers.
TURNSTONE.
COMMON, OR COLLARED TURNSTONE. HEBRIDAL SANDPIPER.
FIGURE 36.
This is a very remarkable bird with regard to personal appearance,
having a variegated dress of black, white, and brownish red, with
little fading or running off into the other, so that the colours are
strongly contrasted; it has a tolerably heavy body, a strong stout bill
of moderate length, and longish thick legs, which are of a dull orange
colour, the toes terminating in strong black claws, very useful in what
appears to be the chief occupation of the bird, namely, turning up the
stones and pieces of rock on the shore, in search of the sea-worms and
small shell-fish which lurk beneath; farther inland it searches in the
same way for beetles and other insects; hence its common name
Turnstone, and Collared Turnstone, from the distinct white mark which
passes over the neck and down each side of the breast, until it nearly
meets beneath. In the Hebrides we find that it is called a Sandpiper,
because it closely resembles, in habits and general conformation, some
of the birds which belong to the _Tringa_, or Sandpiper genus, of which
there are several species in this country.
The most commonly used scientific name of the Turnstone is _Strepsilas
interpres_--rather a difficult name to translate; the first term
appears to come from two Greek roots, _Strepho_--to turn, and _laas_--a
stone; the second term may mean an interpreter, and is applied to the
bird, as Morris conjectures, from its habit of careful investigation,
and turning over, as a translator does the leaves of a book. So we may
set down our feathered friend, who goes poking and prying into holes
and turning up stones, as one who likes to see the bottom of things. It
is well for my readers to have the like inclination, to possess an
inquiring mind, so that they pursue their investigations with a due
regard to the wishes and interests of others, and are not merely
curious and Paul Pryish, if we may use the term. The secrets of nature
cannot be too closely and perseveringly investigated, and in her
domains much information may often be gained by becoming a Turnstone.
This bird is one of our winter visitants, arriving, says Morris, at the
end of August; the Scottish naturalist, Macgillivray, we see, says,
"visiting our coasts at the end of October;" perhaps he refers more
particularly to Scotland and the northern parts of the island; both
agree in assigning May as the latest date of departure.
The Turnstones frequent rocky and gravelly places more than the smooth
level sands. They are active energetic birds, running swiftly, and
flying rapidly with regular well-timed beats of the wings, sometimes in
a direct course, but oftener in curves. They have a clear twittering or
whistling cry, uttered frequently while flying. Their time of breeding
is about the middle of June, when they are found on the coast of Norway
and other northern countries of Europe. They lay their eggs on the
sandy and rocky shores, sometimes amid the stunted herbage, but often
in a slight hollow, natural or scraped out for the purpose, and lined
with a few blades of grass. The eggs are four in number, of a reddish
olive cast, spotted with dark grey, greenish brown, and black, some
very thickly, others not so much so. They are smaller than the eggs of
the Peewit, and more rounded in shape. Hewitson has remarked that those
which he met with in Norway had a beautiful purple or crimson tinge.
[Illustrations: 1 through 38]
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Transcriber's note:
The eight pages of illustrations preceding the title page have
been moved to the end of the text.
Minor spelling and typographical errors have been corrected without
note. Dialect spellings, contractions and inconsistencies have been
retained as printed.