LIMICOIM. 



LAPWING. 283 



CHARADRIID^. 



Vanellus vulgaris, Bechstein*. 



THE LAPWING, OR PEEWIT. 



Vanellus cristatus. 



Vanellus, Brissonf. — Bill shorter than the head, straight, slightly ooin- 

 pressed ; the points of both mandibles horny and hard. Nasal groove wide, 

 and reacbing as far as the horoy tip. Nostrils basal, linear, pierced in the 

 membrane of the nasal groove. Legs slender, with the lower part of the tibiae 

 naked. Tarsi reticulated behind, scutellated in front. Feet fo'ur-toed ; three 

 before, one behind, the anterior ones united at the base by a membrane ; hind 

 toe very short, articulated upon the tarsus. Wings large, tubercuiatod oi' 

 spurred in front of the carpal joint ; the first and second quill-feathers shorter 

 than the third and fourth, which are about equal, and the longest in the wing. 



The Lapwing, or Peewit, is one of the best known among 

 our native birds; the first name being suggested by its peculiar 



* Ornithologisches Taschenbuch, ii. p. 313 (1803). 



t Ornithologie, v. p. 94 (1760). The name was formerly spelt VanneUm, as 

 the diminutive of vannus, a fan. See Charleton, ' Exercitationes, ' p. 113 (1677). 



