The name of Lapwing has been given to these birds, on account of the flapping noise which they make with their large wings during flight; and that of pee-wit has been obtained from their cry. They associate in flocks during the winter-time, and are caught, by nets, in the same manner as ruffs ([177]), but are killed as soon as they are caught. Lapwings are in considerable demand by the London poulterers, particularly about the month of October, when they are fat and excellent eating. Their eggs, which are olive-coloured spotted with black, are esteemed a peculiar delicacy during the whole season in which they can be obtained.
Lapwings feed chiefly on worms, and the females lay each two eggs on the ground, in some hollow place, on the dry parts of marshes.
179. The DOTTEREL (Charadrius morinellus) is a species of plover distinguished by its roundish and obtuse bill and black legs, its breast being rust-coloured, and by having a white line over each eye, and another upon the breast.
These birds seldom weigh more than three or four ounces. About the latter end of April, during the month of May, and part of June, they are found, in flocks of eight or ten together, on the heaths and moors of Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, and Derbyshire, and among the mountains of Westmorland and Cumberland. They are also seen on the Wiltshire and Berkshire downs in the months of April and September.
Such is the singularity of manners of these birds that it is possible to catch them, even with the hand, by a very simple artifice. It was formerly customary for the fowler to proceed, in the night, with a candle and lantern, to the places where he knew the birds were in the habit of roosting. Roused, but unalarmed, by the light, if he approached with caution they would continue immoveable until he was able to discover them. He would now stretch out one of his arms, which induced the imitative birds to stretch their wing; then a foot, which the birds likewise mimicked. This he did alternately until he was sufficiently near to extend and entangle them in his net. There were other contrivances besides this: but the greater facility of killing these birds by the gun has of late years rendered them all useless.
When dotterels are best in season they are very fat and delicate eating.
There are several birds which are sold by the London poulterers under the appellation of plovers. These are chiefly the Golden Plover (Charadrius pluvialis), the Grey Sand-Piper (Tringa squatorola), and the Green Sand-Piper (Tringa ochropus), all of which are much esteemed for the table.
180. The LAND-RAIL, or CORN-CRAKE (Rallus crex), is distinguished by having a short and strong bill, and the legs situated far back; the feathers of the back black, edged with bay, and the wings of a reddish rusty colour.
The usual weight of these birds is from six to eight ounces. They are found, during summer, in corn-fields, but are migratory, and seldom seen after the middle of September.
The remarkable cry of "crek, crek, crek," uttered by these birds in meadows and corn-fields before the grass and corn are cut, is well known. It is heard from the thickest part of the herbage: and, when any person approaches the spot, so great is the rapidity with which they run, that it is, almost in an instant afterwards, heard forty or fifty paces distant.