THE EGGS ON TOP OF THE HILL 93 



mother's breast and explore the strange 

 world into which they had come, and 

 before the day was over they had almost 

 learnt to capture flies on their own 

 account. They saw the black specks on 

 the grass stems, and their mother had 

 shown how to peck at them quickly, 

 but the babies were too slow, and missed 

 the insects as they took to their wings. 

 But hunger made them more cute, and 

 the next day it had to be a very artful 

 fly which escaped their quick beaks ; here 

 and there they darted, picking them up 

 rapidly. 



A Carrion Crow, which had its nest 

 in the little coppice on the hill-side, had 

 discovered that the young Lapwings 

 were about, and the large robber had 

 made several attempts to capture them. 

 Each time the Crow came to the top 

 of the hill the male Lapwing, which was 

 always on the look-out, gave the alarm, 

 and the young knew exactly what to do 



