THE WADEES. 265 



sight of one of these fine birds flying rapidly over a large 

 flock of peewits near Christchurch in Hampshire without 

 showing any inclination to molest them. What, however, 

 was even more significant than this — for the bird may of 

 course have been gorged — was that the peewits showed 

 not the least fear in presence of the falcon, as they might 

 surely have been expected to do in the presence of a 

 natural enemy. On the other hand, the wheeling bird 

 seemed to have a business eye on the movements of a 

 number of little white tails that were bobbing among the 

 sandhills close by, — in short, it appeared to be bent on 

 a meal of fur rather than feather, for which its prefer- 

 ence is universally admitted. The male lapwing's tricks 

 for diverting attention from his eggs or young have been 

 alluded to ; but, even before the breeding season, the 

 evolutions in the air of both sexes are somewhat remark- 

 able, and I have seen in the low land within a mile or 

 two of the Baltic a flock of probably some hundreds of 

 these birds behaving like tumbler pigeons. Mere wanton 

 gambolling evidently, since they would not, even were it 

 the practice of this bird to feed in the air, have been 

 chasing any insects in a temperature several degrees below 

 zero. In that country I have eaten the bird, and very fair 

 it was, though I always believed it w^as not much eaten 

 in these islands. Sir Herbert Maxwell, however, protests 

 strongly against our w^asteful consumption of both the bird 

 and its eggs. The food of the lapwing consists of insects. 

 The so-called " false " nests, which are so common in the 

 vicinity of the breeding-grounds, are said to be caused by 

 the males dancing to the females. The eggs are laid in a 

 shallow depression, often lined with a few grasses. Eggs^ 

 4, if inch ; greenish brown, with black blotches. These 

 are the "Plovers' eggs" of trade, and so important is the 

 industry that special dogs are trained to find them. 



Sociable Lai^wing. — A rare straggler from the Continent, 

 which has occurred once only — in Lancashire. It has no 

 crest, and there is a white line over the eye. 



