372 THE PLOVERS 



in the spring of a continuance of the black from the breast band up to 

 the chin seem trivial and somewhat meaningless. From an aesthetic 

 point of view it is a distinct enough gain, as it effects a massing of the 

 lights and darks of the plumage. There is, in addition, an apparently 

 added brilliancy to the whole plumage, especially of the back ; and the 

 long curved crest attains its full development at this time. 



Lapwings return to their breeding-grounds in February or March, 

 the date being more or less dependent on locality and weather 

 conditions. The social state is abandoned very gradually at first; 

 half-hearted quarrels between individuals which may be, probably are, 

 males occur, but these are neither severe nor lasting enough to disturb 

 seriously the harmony that generally prevails. In the opinion of 

 Mr. S. E. Brock, who contributed an interesting and valuable article 

 to the Zoologist (1911, p. 296) on " Lapwings in the Pairing Season," 

 there is naturally a preponderance of males, which is especially 

 noticeable in the early days of their reaching the nesting-grounds. 

 The difference between the sexes is so slight, that, in the field, it is 

 easier to distinguish them by actions that one is able with fair 

 certainty to ascribe to one or the other sex. Even so I have found it 

 a difficult matter to decide in certain cases. Mr. Brock appears to 

 have completely overcome this difficulty, as he never once expresses 

 a doubt in attributing certain actions to male or female. The males 

 are said to spread over the nesting area, each taking up its position 

 on, and jealously maintaining against trespassers, a more or less well- 

 defined territory. Mr. Brock says, " Here they spend a large part of 

 the day, occupying themselves in the formation of scrapes, in aerial 

 combats with other males, or in courting any female bird which may 

 happen to settle not too far off, while at intervals they indulge 

 in prolonged song-flights, ranging over a wider area." 



The habit of forming additional nests or scrapes, common among 

 ground-nesting birds, especially Waders, is more prevalent with the 

 lapwing than any other, or perhaps it would be more correct to say 



1 Zoologist, 1911, p. 297. 



