188 THE LAPWING. 
before them, when they will try to hide in any opening which may 
present itself, the old birds all the while giving vent to cries of 
woe, as they wheel around the intruder in the air above. The 
young run directly they leave the shell. The lapwing begins 
laying towards the end of March, and onwards to April, May, and 
June. 
ENEMIES AND OTHER DISADVANTAGES TO CONTEND WITH. 
The hungry carrion crow is one of its greatest enemies, being 
most persistent in its search for the eggs. He usually glides 
quietly over some bank or other barrier next the breeding place, 
with beak pointed downwards, eagerly scanning the ground below 
him, which he does with the utmost precision, quartering every 
foot, with the result that not an egg escapes his observant eye. 
At last he sees a nest, and is up with an egg in his bill before the 
lapwings have realised what is going on. With speedy wing and 
cries of distress the parent birds make after the persecutor, but 
as the latter has obtained a start he serenely steers his course 
for the nearest refuge and there devours his ill-gotten gain. 
After his meal is finished, and when he thinks the course is again 
clear, once more he makes for the nesting ground, but the old 
birds are not to be caught napping this time, and before he has 
reached the desired object are giving him a much-needed lesson. 
They buffet him with their hard wings time after time, and, 
having been joined by all the lapwings in the neighbourhood, the 
crow is enjoying anything but a happy time—a piteous caw, caw 
being heard time and again, showing the effect of the punish- 
ment on him. Not until he has been thoroughly chased from 
their domain will the lapwings give up the hunt. Once more the 
noise subsides and the birds return to their haunts, happy in the 
thought that their hated enemy has been so disastrously beaten 
and discomfited. Needless to say that crow does not often 
return to the same place a third time on a like errand. 
Partridges are often wont to stray near the nest, and no. 
sooner does the lapwing see this than it endeavours to chase them 
off with its wings. The former, having no evil designs on the 
eggs, rather resent this unceremonious treatment, and there is. 
often a short combat between the birds, which usually ends in 
favour of the peewit. 
The eggs in some cases being laid rather early are often 
