186 Tue LAPWING. 
worm, which, alarmed by the noise above his home, has come out 
of his hiding place to investigate matters, thinking the cause due 
to the action of his enemy the mole. Needless to relate, he is 
soon disposed of, while the lapwing goes on a fresh search, 
making, perhaps, several other short runs before he comes across 
any more. The lapwing procures a great deal of its food during 
the night-time, and as the shades of the silent evening hour are 
setting in, it is often observed in small flocks going through the 
air at a great rate, its wings then making a kind of rushing sound 
which is distinctly audible. Its cry is often heard at dusk either 
when flying overhead or emanating from some fallow or pasture 
land. It is especially noisy on clear moonlight evenings. After 
the frosts and snows of winter have gone the lapwing pairs, when 
it is very pleasant to listen to its breeding call, more especially 
when darkness has settled over the still country. Everything 
appears enshrouded in a solemn silence; bird songsters have - 
retired to roost amongst the trees, shrubs, etc., and the last 
thrush has stopped its evening lullaby until the advent of a new 
day, when the love song of the lapwing is heard from the fallow 
fields, where it is searching a place suitable for it and its mate 
to nest. If the night be calm its notes can be heard throughout 
the whole evening, but as daylight breaks it begins to get more 
silent, and its place is taken by some early thrush or blackbird, 
the songs of which seem to drown all other sounds. The notes 
during the breeding season somewhat resemble the words who-c 
wee, who-o-wee, who we, who we, whoo-we-e, the wee being pro- 
nounced like the French “ oui.’? The lapwing rises a short dis- 
tance in the air when uttering these notes, tumbling over several 
times when going downward, before it again returns to land. Its 
other notes at this time resemble “ pee-weet,’’ or “ peesweep,’’ 
whence the bird derives one of its names. It utters these usually 
when anyone is in the neighbourhood of its nest, the first syllable 
being prolonged, with a plaintive accent. At other times it 
seems to have a variety of calls, often first a shrill single note. 
Tue NESTING SEASON. 
This is among the first of birds to nest, which is usually a 
round hole scraped on fallow, pasture, moor, or marshy land, 
lined at times with dead grass, small pieces of straw, or rushes, 
but often this is reduced to a minimum, especially on fallow land, 
