LAPWING. 3 



Mr. P. H. Emerson gives the following excellent description of the nesting- 

 habits of the Lapwing on the Norfolk Broadland * : — " And when the lengthening 

 days of March have warmed the sandy warrens, some of the cocks in the flocks 

 frequenting that district begin to tumble about amongst the hens, calling, ' Three 

 bullocks a week, week arter week ; ' and the fenman's heart is glad, ' for they'll 

 soon be laying now,' he says with bright eyes, thinking of the six shillings he 

 will get for the first dozen of blotched eggs. But his heart is gayer still when 

 he sees both birds sitting about on the warrens, and mayhap on the ploiighed 

 marshes as well as the clear marshes, for he knows the beginning is near. 

 He saw them tumbling nearly a fortnight ago, and he knows they generally 

 lay three weeks after they begin tumbling, or ' pairing,' as he calls it. But 

 when he sees the cocks fly up and cut at an old grey crow that has just flown 

 over, he is assured ' there be eggs,' and he is right ; we should find eggs. 



" But let us select our marshes, for we will not go to the warrens, although 

 the first eggs are sure to be found there ; the soil is warmer there. We will go 

 and look over a clear marsh, a ploughed marsh, a grass marsh, or a new-lay, and 

 a few days after the first eggs have been found, for we wish to see the birds 

 busy at their great task. 



" It is a beautiful dawn in early May, the daylight sky brightening to the 

 nor'ard, as we start in the heavy dew up the wall ; for daybreak is the time to 

 find a duck's nest, and soon after daybreak a peewit's cradle. We will go down 

 now across that dike into the marsh, where the cocks of litter stand piled, ready 

 to be poled to the big marsh-boat, and carried to the farm. As we walk across 

 the dike over the old plank, all riddled with bolt-holes — for 'tis a footbridge torn 

 from some wreck salvaged from the Hasboro' sands — I throw my cap into the air, 

 and look ! See yon bird silently and swiftly flying across the water and away 

 over the reed-beds ^. That is the hen. You must watch her, and her only, if you 

 want to find eggs. But here comes the cock tumbling, and excitedly calling, 

 ' Three bullocks a week — week arter week — week arter week.' An expert egger 

 could tell you how many eggs she has by her flight, for as her eggs increase 

 her flight gets more sluggish, and when she begins sitting, she is ' a real old 

 lump ' when she flies away, and indeed such is the case with most birds. But 

 the hen-peewit is exceptionally active until the second egg is laid, which, 

 by-the-bye, is not the day after the first is laid. They sometimes lay every day — 

 sometimes omit two days without laying. But we will pay no heed to the old 

 cock ; we know his tricks to lead us away on a cock-peewit chase, which is far 



* ' Birds, Beasts, and Fishes of the Norfolk Broadland,' 1895 (London : David Nutt), pp. 273-277. 



n2 



