The Lapwing.] OF ORKNEY, 85 



purple ; the lesser coverts have more of a blue cast ; the quills 

 black, the ends of the four first marked with a white spot, 

 the lesser ones half white and half black ; the breast white, 

 as is the belly ; the tail has twelve feathers, the outmost white, 

 with a dusky spot, the others white next the body, the other 

 half black, tipt with white. 



The legs red ; the throat and part of the breast black, with 

 white spots. 



The lapwing is one of the most anxious creatures for its 

 young of any wild-bird I know ; in breeding-time nothing 

 frights it ; neither men nor dogs can terrify it from its haunts : 

 though a very shy bird at other times, now it will strike at 

 the head of the boldest invader, and, with vast clamour, de- 

 fends its rights to the marsh. Linnaeus says it drives away 

 the ravens, who pick out the eyes of the lambs. I suppose it 

 is perfectly sensible of the manners of the raven, that he often 

 meddles with its own eggs and birds, and thus considers him 

 as its own enemy. 



The cry of the lapvving is plaintive, the same note (piwit) 

 repeated ; however, the male in breeding- time has another 

 more cheerful note, which he repeats with great briskness 

 when no danger is near, but when this threatens, he has the 

 same plaintive cry as the female. 



The lapwing breeds very early (as all the grallae) ; I have 

 seen their eggs in the beginning of April. It makes a nest 

 on the bare heath, in a small hollow scraped by its own in- 

 dustry ; there it lays its eggs, which are four in number, of a 

 dark olive-green, spotted with black, on the bare ground ; but 



