NOTES. 157 



MANCEUVRES OF LAPWING IN DEFENCE OF YOUNG. 



The following account of the manoeuvres of a Laj)wing 

 ( Vanellus vulgaris) in defence of her chicks was communicated 

 to me by my father's gamekeeper, William Edwards, a very 

 observant man, and interested in all bird and animal life. 



While occupied with his young pheasants in North Wales, 

 his attention was called to some Lapwings about a hundred 

 yards away, in a state of agitation. He went up towards the 

 spot and found a stoat close to the young chicks. The Lap- 

 wing was screaming close to the stoat and was gradually 

 decoying it away from the chicks, flapping on the ground as 

 if wounded and spreading its wings as if unable to fly, but 

 keeping just out of reach of the stoat all the time. The stoat 

 was trying to catch it, but the Lajjwing was quick enough to 

 keep just out of danger, and slackened its pace when the stoat 

 went more slowly. In this manner it was enticed away 

 from the chicks till it was about four hundred yards distant. 

 Edwards then crossed over to the stoat and killed it. 



Altogether there were six old Lapwings present, and they 

 helped to lure the stoat away from the chicks. After the 

 stoat had been shot, Edwards went back to see if there were 

 any more about, and noticed three young chicks too young to 

 fly (there may have been more hiding in the grass). All six 

 birds returned to the spot where the young birds were after 

 the shot and ran about collecting the chicks. 



Hubert Lynes. 



FURTHER NOTES ON TAME SNIPE. 



On August 6th, 1910, I caught a young Snipe {Gallinago 

 coslestis), which, as nearly as I could judge, was then almost 

 exactly three weeks old. I brought her (?) home and j)ut 

 her in my old Snipe's cage (I am glad to say he is still very 

 well and tamer than ever : cf. antea, Vol. II., pp. 249 — 258). 

 For the first few hours the young one did nothing but run after 

 the old bird, squeaking in a most irritating key, and tried to 

 snatch worms, etc., out of " John's " bill. This made me 

 think that Snipe must feed their young from the bill for 

 a very much longer period than I imagined, though I 

 was certain that they did so for a time. The young bird 

 would not attempt to feed herself although quite old enough 

 to do so ; but I suppose she was too shy and nervous ; how- 

 ever, the next day I saw her feeding all right, and the following 

 day, to my delight I found that the old Snipe had adopted 

 her, and watched him feeding her with great interest. He 

 would hardly eat anything himself, but held out all the food 



