NESTING-SERIES OF BRITISH BIRDS. 7s; 
No. 103. LAPWING or PEEWIT. (Vanellus vanellus.) 
A common resident throughout the British Islands, its numbers 
being largely augmented in autumn by the arrival of large flocks from 
the Continent. Damp pastures, bare fallows, and moorlands are its 
favourite haunts, where insects, worms, and slugs are plentiful. The 
nest, a slight depression in the soil, sometimes scratched out by the 
birds themselves, is lined with a few bits of dead rush or dry grass. 
The eggs, usually four in number, are subject to variation in colour, 
but are commonly brownish-buff, blotched and spotted with blackish- 
brown. 
In March, April and May vast numbers of eggs are collected and 
are greatly appreciated for the table. 
Yorkshire, May. 
Presented by Lord Walsingham. 
No. 104. RED-NECKED PHALAROPE. 
(Phalaropus hyperboreus). 
This elegant little Wader is a cireumpolar species breeding in the 
north of Europe, Asia, and America, and migrating southward in the 
autumn. A few pairs still nest regularly in the Shetlands, Orkneys, 
and Outer Hebrides, and a small breeding-colony has recently been 
discovered in Ireland, Its nest, a small deep hollow in a tuft of grass, 
is usually situated in the vicinity of water. The four eggs are yellowish- 
buff or pale olive, blotched and spotted with blackish-brown, reddish- 
brown, and grey. 
The female is both larger and more brightly coloured than the male, 
aud the latter usually undertakes the duties of incubation. After the 
autumn moult the cheeks, neck, and underparts become white. 
Hebrides, June. 
Presented hy Colonel L. H. Irby § Captain 8. G. Reid. 
No, 105. AVOCET. (Recurvirostra avocetta.) 
Formerly a regular summer visitor to Hugland, breeding in con- 
siderable numbers on the shores of the eastern counties from the 
Humber to Sussex. Reclamation of fen-land and constant persecution 
have gradually caused it to forsake our coast and it probably ceased 
to nest there in 1824. Though small parties still arrive in spring, and 
occasionally in autumn, they are never allowed to breed. The eggs 
are laid in May, in a slight depression among scanty herbage, sand, 
or dry mud. 
Europe, May. 
Presented by J. Stares & E. V. Earle, Esqrs. 
