31-8 REPTILES AND BIRDS. 



shock, which the worm is tempted to attribute to the proximity of a 

 mole ; and consequently it hastens to the surface to escape its under- 

 ground enemy, when it is immediately snapped up by the bird. 



The Lapwing is a model of cleanliness. After it has been feeding 

 on the ground for two or three hours, it washes its bill and feet ; it 

 repeats these ablutions several times in the day. In this respect the 

 most rigid Mahommedan could scarcely find fault with it. 



Lapwings live together in communities, except in the breeding 

 season, when they separate into pairs, to devote themselves to 

 hatching and rearing their young. The female lays three or four 

 eggs in the most simple nest that can be imagined, placed in an ex- 

 posed position on any rising ground in the marshes. These eggs are, 

 it is said, of an exquisite flavour, and in some countries, especially 

 Holland, a large trade is done in them. 



The flesh of the Lapwing is only good eating during certain 

 months of the year. About All Saints' Day these birds acquire 

 their finest condition, when they are in great demand in some parts 

 of France. In the spring they are very indifferent as food, easily 

 explaining why the Church has allowed them to be eaten during 

 Lent, for at that period assuredly no food could be more matgre. 

 There is an old saying which celebrates and also exaggerates the 

 culinary virtues of the Lapwing and its brother bird the Plover : 

 " He who has never eaten either the plover or the lapwing does not 

 know what game is." 



The Lapwing might be ranked amongst the most useful auxiliaries 

 of man ; it destroys a prodigious quantity of worms, caterpillars, 

 and noxious insects. After hearing this the reader might perhaps 

 imagine that this bird has found aid and protection from mankind. 

 Nothing of the sort ; it is killed wherever and as often as possible ; 

 besides this, a limit upon its multiplication is set by stealing its eggs. 

 We do not seem to perceive that this joyous, lively, and graceful bird 

 longs to conclude a treaty of friendship with mankind. When will 

 man make up his mind to understand his true interests ? 



There are in Europe two species of this genus, the Lapwing and 

 the Swiss Lapwing or Squatarole. 



The Lapwing ( Vanellus crislatus, Fig. 140) is about the size of a 

 pigeon ; its belly is white, and its back black, with a metallic lustre. 

 It is furnished with a crest, which coquettishly adorns the back of its 

 head. It is tolerably abundant in France, but seems more especially 

 partial to Holland. The Swiss Lapwing is distinguished from the last 

 by a lighter-coloured plumage, and by the absence of the crest, it is 

 much more rare than the former. 



