GOLDEN PLOVER. 7 I 



" Those are not lapwings flying above us, are they ? " said 

 Dick. 



" No, they are golden plovers. They are not half so pretty 

 as the lapwings. They have no crest, and are much plainer 

 in plumage, and they have more black on them. Look out 

 for their nests in this marshy spot." 



" Here is one," said Dick. 



" No, that is only a lapwing's, and in a very clever place 

 too ; the nest is made, or rather the eggs are placed on the 



NEST OF GOLDEN PLOVER. 



top of a mud-hill, so that when the water rises the eggs will 

 be kept dry." 



" Here is a golden plover's, then," said Jimmy, pointing to 

 a depression in the ground, in which were four eggs of the 

 usual plover type, about the same size as the lapwing's, but 

 more blunt in outline, and lighter in ground colour. 

 " Yes, those are they. Take two of them." 

 It must not be supposed that I mention all the nests and 

 eggs the boys found in their rambles. Space forbids me to 



