so much esteeméa at present as when Dr. Muffett (temp.
Elizabeth) wrote-—“ The gray Plover is so highly esteemed
that this Proverb lS raised of a curious and male-contented
stomack; A gray Plover cannot please Mm. Yet to some
the green [Golden] Plover seemeth more nourishing, and to
others the Lapwing, which indeed is savory and: light of
digestion, but nothing comparable to Plovers.’*
The adult bird in summer plumage has the beak black;
the irides very dark brown; the forehead and top of the
head white, the latter slightly speckled with greyish-black;
nape * of the neck a mixture Of dusky grey and white; the
whole of the back, scapulars, wing-coverts^ tertials, rump,
and upper tail-coverts, black and white, the base of each
feather being black, the ends white; the wing-primaries
greyish-black, the shafts white$ tail-feathers white, with
numerous greyish-black transverse bars; the chin, cheeks,
throat, sides Of the neck, breast', and belly, black; - vent
and under tail-coverts white f axillary plume elongated and
black at all ages and se&sofis; under wing-coverts %^?ite‘;
legs, toes, and claws dark slate.
■ The whole length is twelve inches. Prom th e : carpal
joint to the end bFtbe wirig seven inches and’five-eighths;
the first quill-feather three-eighths'-of an inch longer'than
the second, and thé longest in the win’g.
In winter the feathers oh the upper surface of the body
are dusky grey, edged'with dull' white y the thró&t, breast,
and sides, lighter in colour than the^ back, the >'feathers but
slightlf'' Streaked" with dusky- grey; the béïlyy vent, and
under tail-covèrts,"d^B^hite,"with fewer no marks.4* '
In spring the black feathers begin to appear on the
breast, and the birds may be;'-hSserved in various degrees
of change'from white, with only a * fe# black feathers, tö
entire and perfect’ bla'ck.-^T|ib breeding-plumage is';generally
complete' by the end of May.
Young birds of-the'year in autumn aneTnUdh* spotted with
yellow, giving them a strong Superficial’ resemblance to 'the
Golden dpfover. -
Yanellus- vulgaris, Bechstein*.
THE LAPWING^OB PEEWIT,
Vqjniïlusi
VANEiLUSyRAjîïssonf.—Bill shorter than the head, straight, slightly compressed;
the points of both raaijd'iblearhorny and hard. ’Nasal groove vide,
ap,dj3ra.ching as far as the horny tip. • j^gatrils basal, linear, pierced, in the
membrane of the" nasal groove.,. Leas slender, with the lower part pf the tibjee
naked. * Tarsi retieulated ^behind’, scutellated impfroni) ^Peet four-to‘ed y three
before, one ^behind, the'•anterior-zones united at the base'by-a’membrane ; hind
toe y,eryj short, articulated upon the tarsus. Wings large, tuberculated ' or
spurred ip,f ropf of.the carpal joint • the first and second quill-feathers shorter
than the third’ ancr fourth, which are abbnt'eqnal, and the longest in the wing.
The Lapwing; or Peewit,4# ou'e of tbe best known among
our native birds; the first name being éuggésted by'îts peculiar
- ..^O^jthologisehes Tasçhen^udh ii^Pj 313 ^
' I^Qraithologié-, 'v. pz a i (1760). S The name was formerly spelt Vrmnellùs, as
the'diminutive of-vanrius, a fan. ' *.-See Char!effing’®RxercitàtionéS,’ p. 113 (1677).