ae 
PLOVERS AND SANDPIPERS,. 83 
forest growth. The nest is always made upon the 
ground, and is merely a slight hollow, lined with a 
few scraps of withered herbage. The four eggs 
very closely resemble those of the Lapwing, but 
are not quite so olive. When once flushed from 
the nest the Gray Plover becomes very wary and 
restless, and does not return for some time; should 
the young be hatched various alluring antics are 
indulged in to withdraw attention from them. 
LAPWING. 
This bird is the typical species of Brisson’s 
genus Vanxellus, and is known to most naturalists 
as Vanellus cristatus or vulgaris. It cannot easily | 
be confused with any other British bird, and is 
readily identified by its long conspicuous crest, 
metallic green, suffused with purple upper parts, and 
bright chestnut upper and under tail coverts. 
Further, its appearance in the air, so far as British 
Limicoline birds are concerned, is unique; the 
curiously rounded wings, and deliberate Heron-like 
flight, together with the peculiar note, make the 
matter of its identification easy to the veriest tyro 
in ornithology. The Lapwing is also not only the 
commonest of its order found in Britain, but cer- 
tainly the most widely dispersed. Nevertheless, it 
is only during the non-breeding season that the 
Lapwing can fairly be described as a marine bird. 
From March onwards to the early autumn it retires 
to inland moors, pastures, and rough undrained 
