202 OUR BIRD ALLIES. 
peculiar yellowish-brown hue, and are marked with 
sundry blots and splashes of a darker colour. 
THE Lapwing, or Peewit, again, is entitled to honour- 
able mention on account of its services in the 
slaughter of such mischievous creatures as grubs, 
slugs, and various destructive insects. And perhaps, 
of all our British wading birds, this is the most gene- 
rally known, for its curious tuft of feathers at the back 
of the head, its strange, flapping flight, and its remark- 
able cry compe! notice, even from those who are not 
generally observant. The bird is a very common 
one, especially in damp meadows and marshy ground. 
Another point which has attracted a good deal of 
notice to the bird is its behaviour when it considers 
that its home and eggs are in imminent danger. 
At such times, the male evinces its parental solici- 
tude by rising quickly into the air, and flying round 
and round the scene of his domestic joys and sor- 
rows, uttering meanwhile his plaintive cry at frequent 
intervals. The female bird, more cunning by far, 
resorts to artifice upon leaving her nest, and flies 
off in a slow, halting manner, as though crippled 
by some recent injury rendering sustained and 
steady flight impossible. Thus, not unfrequently, 
she lures the unwary passer-by from the neigh- 
bourhood of her eggs, her artful wiles leading him 
farther and ever farther from the spot, until he 
discovers that his chase is a hopeless one, and that 
he has been neatly taken in. 
The nest—if we may so call it—of the lapwing is 
