THE LAPWINGS. I7I 



dusky-brown, the latter slightly glossed with green ; upper 

 tail-coverts cinnamon-rufous ; base of tail white, terminal half 

 black, the feathers being slightly tipped with white, the black 

 band decreasing in extent towards the outer feathers, which are 

 entirely white, excepting a black patch on the inner w^b ; 

 crown black, with a slight greenish gloss and ornamented with 

 an occipital crest of elongated plumes ; lores, fore part of 

 cheeks, entire throat, and fore-neck black, with a slight green- 

 ish gloss ; eyebrow, sides of face, sides of neck, and hind-neck 

 as far as the occiput dull white, the eyebrow mottled with black 

 above the eye, and below the latter a narrow streak of black 

 extending along the upper edge of the ear-coverts ; hind-neck 

 slightly washed with brown, the lower sides of the neck metal- 

 lic-green, extending down the sides of the fore-neck; remainder 

 of under surface of body, from the fore-neck downwards, pure 

 white, including the under wing-coverts and axillaries; the 

 coverts on the outside of the wing as well as the lower primary- 

 coverts black, like the quill-lining ; under tail-coverts light cin- 

 namon ; bill black ; feet clear fleshy-red ; iris brown. Total 

 length, 13 inches; culmen, i; wing, 8-8; tail, 4*2 ; tarsus, 17. 

 Adult Female. — Similar to the male in colour, but the crest 

 not so long, and the black on the throat not developed so 

 soon. Total length, 11 inches; culmen, i-i; wing, 8*5; tail, 

 3*8 ; tarsus, i'6. 



Winter Plumage. — Differs from the summer plumage in having 

 the throat white and the head brown, with the crest shorter ; 

 across the fore-neck a very broad band of black ; feathers of 

 the upper surface with fulvous edgings, which gradually wear 

 off. 



Young. — Coloured like the adults, but having all the feathers 

 of the upper surface edged with sandy-buff, including the wing- 

 coverts and secondaries, the scapulars with a little purplish 

 gloss ; the crest very short ; the eyebrow and sides of face and 

 throat washed with sandy-buff, with black marks before the 

 eye, on the fore part of the cheeks, and upper line of the ear- 

 coverts. 



Range in Great Britain. — The Lapwing is found everywhere 

 throughout our islands, and while diminishing in some locali- 

 ties, owing to the increase of drainage and cultivation and the 



