LAPWING 241 
earlier, their wild cries and antics in the air expressing 
great excitement at the approach of an intruder. 
When laying has commenced, the male, if disturbed, 
rises and performs a series of fantastic twists and turns in 
the air, all the while calling loudly. If his preserves be 
invaded, he will sweep past, or dash to and fro overhead ; 
these performances distract attention from his mate, who, 
meanwhile, hearing the alarm-note, quietly slips off her nest 
and flies away (fig. 82). Should one begin to search for eggs, 
the female will join the male in endeavouring by her antics 
to allure the collector from the spot where the eggs he. 
In order to find these, the movements and cries of the male 
should be wholly discarded, while the spot where the female 
is first seen to rise should be carefully marked; this 
is usually situated a few yards from a nest. When the 
young are hatched, both parents become bold to a degree, 
and wiil brush by one’s face so closely that the rush of 
their wings sounds lke a gust of wind. On the intruder 
standing still for a few minutes, the birds may be seen to 
alight some forty yards off, as though to call attention to 
themselves and not to their young. If on the renewal of 
the search a nestling be discovered the excitement of the 
parents becomes intense; they tumble and twist rapidly 
in the air, at the same uttering incessantly their piteous 
cry of pée-wee, pee-wee, pee-wee. 
Hven as late as the middle of August, when the young 
are strong on the wing, I have seen the parent-birds evincing 
much anxiety for their offspring. 
Lapwings will remain about their breeding-haunts for 
several days after all their eggs have been collected, after 
which they become wary and silent. When the eggs are 
taken late in the season, the birds soon abandon their haunts 
without further laying. 
Geographical distribution. — Beyond our Isles, the 
breeding-range of the Lapwing extends from the Arctic 
circle to Southern Europe; limited numbers nest in North 
Africa, while eastward it breeds in Northern and Central 
Asia, reaching India in the winter. 
DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 
PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial. -——'Top of head and 
elongated crest,’ greenish-black ; hind-neck, back, scapulars, 
1 The crest is composed of long pointed plumes, which, when erected, 
curve forwards and upwards. 
16 
