gansers feeding, no salmon will rise, and we ourselves have had practical experience of this. Mr. Arch. Harper, Brawl Castle, Thurso, N.B., writes :— "I shot several mergansers within the last fortnight, and being anxious to know what they feed on at all seasons of the year, I opened the stomachs of them all. They, without exception, had the same quality, although the quantity of food varied, viz., from three to seven pars in each. Some of the pars were six inches long. I have now shot and examined these birds at all seasons of the year on this river, and they invariably have par in their stomachs, and nothing else." Still, destructive to sport and great gobbler of all kinds of fry as he is, the male bird is as handsome as he can be. Just put your glass upon him when you happen to catch him quietly resting on a pool and not alarmed; see what a splendid plumage, his dark head and back, resplendent with green and purple hue, the beautiful crest and scarlet serrated beak, the white throat, and speckled breast of buff and black, mottled black and white wing-coverts, orange legs and feet; notice particularly his wicked red eye, vicious to a degree, as if he would dispute with you the possession of the pool, though wary enough to get out of your way. The female is brown, with whitish-grey breast. The male bird never accompanies the female and brood in their peregrinations. It appears as soon as the young are hatched he takes himself off to the sea-coast, leaving his mate to do all the family duties. Another bird of this family, the GOOSANDER (Mergus merganser), is occasionally found breeding on some of the lochs in Scotland; but it is a very rare bird, and, happily, does not interfere with the sport of the rod-fisher. THE TEAL. The TEAL (Anas crecca) is one of the smallest of our ducks, and is very prettily marked. It is not often seen our rivers of the south, but frequents most of the on large pieces of water in different parts of the country where it breeds. On the broads of Norfolk it is more abundant. In Scotland one often comes on a brood when fishing the mountain tarns and streams. It is first rate for the table. The male bird has a very beautiful plumage. The top of the head is a rich chestnut-brown with buffish stripes, with a broad patch of rich green extending backwards; cheeks. and side of the neck rich chestnut; back of the neck and back a mixture of blackish-grey and white. All the smaller wing-coverts ash-brown, the larger tipped with white, and the secondaries a mixture of velvet-black, green, and purple tipped with white; the front of the neck chestnut, lower part covered with dark spots, with a tinge of purple; legs and toes brown-grey. Bewick says: "This beautiful little duck seldom exceeds II ounces in weight, or measures more than in length." 14 inches THE LAPWING or PEEWIT (Vanellus Cristatus), one of the family Charadriida (charadrius, according to Pliny, being a bird the seeing of which cures one of the jaundice), migrates to this country early in spring, and many of them take up their abode in the marshes and water-meadows which border many of our rivers, not only for breeding purposes, but also for the abundant supply of food. It is a very wary bird, and our attention is soon drawn to it as it approaches us by its familiar cry, Peewit, peewit. No bird is more crafty in luring the intruder from the nest. The female slips off quietly, and runs for some time close to the ground, bringing to mind Shakespeare's lines in "Much Ado About Nothing: " "Look where Beatrice, like a lapwing, runs Close by the ground to hear our conference;" and then both the male and female come screaming round with their "sounding flight and wailing cry," wheeling upwards, and then passing so close that the rustle of the wings is plainly audible; but as the nest is approached the birds become quite silent : "But if where all the dappled treasure lies He bends his steps, no more she round him flies; Silent and sad she seeks the distant hill." Should she be disturbed when with her brood, what mishaps she feigns, to draw off the attention of the intruder, be it dog or man, flapping along the ground with a broken wing or fractured leg, falling flat as if dead, and many other strange antics! It has many provincial names, Lymptwigg in Devonshire, Peweep in Norfolk, Puit in Essex, Tuet in Lancashire, Flopwing in Beds. In Ireland it is known as Phillipene. In Scotland its general name is Peaseweep. "Peaseweep, peaseweep, Harry my nest and gar me greet," is an old Scotch nursery rhyme. In that country it has a bad name, as it was supposed by its cry and movements to have guided the troopers of Claverhouse to the hidingplaces of the Covenanters : "But, though the pitying sun withdraws his light, On the other hand, Sir Hercules Tyrrwhit, having been severely wounded, was saved by his followers being directed to the spot where he lay by the cries of these birds and their hovering over him, and in gratitude the family bear three peewits for their arms. Chaucer calls it "The false lapwing, full of trickerie." And Shakespeare, in "Measure for Measure: " "Though it is my familiar sin With maids to seem the lapwing, and to jest Tongue far from heart." The peewit has an ancient history. Ovid tells us that Tereus, king of Thrace, for his cruel behaviour to Philomela, sister of his wife Procne, was made unwittingly to devour his own offspring, and was then transformed into a lapwing, to be for ever wailing and restless, searching for his lost child. The following legend is taken from the Danish ("Notes and Queries," vol. x. p. 49) :—" While our Lord hung yet upon the cross there came three birds flying over. The first was the stork, who cried, Styrk ham! styrk ham!' (strengthen Him), and hence the bird's name and the blessings which go with her. The second cried, 'Sval ham! sval ham!' (cool or refresh Him), so she came to be called the swallow, and is also a bird of blessing. But the last was the weep (peewit), who shrieked, 'Pun ham! pun ham!' (pine Him, make Him suffer), and therefore she is accursed for ever down to the last day." The lapwing is a handsome bird, with his black head and crest, and green, glossy back, with white under-parts; and as he turns and twists about in his varied flights, these white feathers show very prominently : "The white wing plover wheels Her sounding flight." As golden plover is considered a great delicacy for the table, the lapwing is often sold for it. They may be easily distinguished from each other by the feet. The lapwing has a hind toe, while the golden plover is with out one. |