WADING BIRDS. 189 
10th of January, 1856; these were male and female. 
A few pairs breed with us every year, frequenting for 
that purpose the flood meadows between Ollerton and 
Clipstone. On Carbreck farm I have sometimes seen 
them in company with the lapwing. 
The Grey Plover (Vanellus melanogaster) is occa- 
sionally seen in winter, but not in great numbers. One 
was shot a few years since by Mr. H. Wells in summer. 
This was on Edwinstowe Forest, and is the only one I 
have known of at that season. 
The Lapwing (Vanellus cristatus) is common all 
over the district, and is to a large extent migratory, 
arriving with us in March, and leaving again about 
November. The wide extent of Thoresby Park is a 
favourite resort, as well as the moor-like parts of the 
forest and the large exposed fields on the forest farms. 
Here they regularly breed; and though the eggs are 
sometimes collected, they are not found in such numbers 
as to make it so profitable an employment as it is in 
some of the eastern counties. I have often been misled 
when in search of the eggs by the enticements and 
manceuvres of the parent birds, notwithstanding my 
knowledge of their practice. While the female is on 
the nest the male is seldom far distant, and on the 
approach of an intruder wheels and tumbles around very 
closely, in order to entice him from his partner. The 
latter on leaving the nest runs quickly for a short 
distance before taking wing, and by this device renders 
it difficult to detect the exact spot she has left, and this 
is increased by the colour of the eggs themselves. 
Few birds are more in keeping with a retired country 
scene, or add more to its picturesque beauty, than the 
Heron (Ardea cinerea), whether it is a winding sedgy 
