154 BRITISH BIRDS 



grey. Its food consists for the most part of insects, but 

 also of berries and other vegetable matters. Yellow Plover 

 and Green Plover are other names for this species. 



The eggs are usually four in number, and large for the 

 bird that lays them ; the ground colour is yellowish-grey 

 and they are spotted variously with brown and black. The 

 young run directly they are out of the shell, and when 

 feathered are darker than their parents, their under parts 

 being curiously marbled with yellow, white and black. 



The Great Plover. See Thick-Knee. 



The Green Plover. See Golden Plover. 



The Grey Plover. 



This bird is much like the Golden Plover, except that 

 its only colours are black below and light bluish grey 

 above, the latter thickly mottled with black. In its habits 

 and choice of food it resembles the Golden Plover. 



The Lapwing. 



This bird is sometimes called the Peewit from its peculiar 

 cry. It is perhaps the best known of all the Plovers and 

 is a conspicuously handsome creature, whose long nuchal 

 crest of dark green feathers adds materially to its attrac- 

 tiveness. A white streak surmounts the eye, the neck is 

 white and so are the under parts, but the rest of the 

 body, including the lower half of the tail, is dark green 

 glittering with metaUic lustre : the upper half of the tail 

 is white, and the vent feathers buff ; the bill is black, and 

 the iris grey. 



The female has a smaller crest, but otherwise resembles 

 the male. 



It is well-known by its curious habit (more or less 

 followed by all the Plovers) of feigning lameness in order 

 to draw away intruders from the vicinity of the nest. 



The eggs, which are usually four in number, are in 

 great request for the table, and the quest is so keen that 



