THE LAPWING 375 



The number of scrapes to be found in the vicinity of each nest 

 varies considerably. Sometimes it is difficult to find more than three 

 or four spread over a fairly large area, and I have counted as many as 

 thirty, arranged in groups of four or five. These were on a long 

 narrow ridge of peaty soil, with deep bog on either side, and appeared 

 to be the work of one bird, as although two or three of the scrapes 

 were slightly lined, one only contained a single egg. The number 

 of partly lined scrapes does not, as a rule, exceed two or three in 

 number ; in these the lining shows sign of having been worked into 

 place, as distinct from those containing odd tufts of grass which may 

 have fallen in during the haphazard tossing about of material by the 

 male. If the ground about a group of scrapes is examined, it may 

 often be found strewn with tufts of dead grass pulled up as described. 

 With the exception of the more elaborate lining, the real nest does 

 not differ from the scrapes near it, nor does it appear to be in a more 

 eligible site. In form the scrapes do not vary to any great extent, 

 although they differ somewhat in appearance according to the nature 

 of the ground. In cultivated fields, where the soil is loose, the 

 interior of the scrape shows sign of much pressing and patting 

 down, and on grass-land the growing grass is scratched away leaving 

 the bare earth. The only locality where I have seen a decided 

 departure from the clean saucer-shaped hollow is in the Suffolk 

 Brecklands. Here, in parts where rabbits abound, the ground is 

 covered with close-cropped grass and lichen, which forms a tough 

 crust on the sandy soil. This crust often breaks away in lumps under 

 the working of the lapwing, giving an irregular shape to the scrapes. 

 Such irregular scrapes are not uncommon, including that in which the 

 eggs are laid. (PL LII., Figs. 3 and 4.) 



The progress of courtship is marked by two distinct actions on 

 the part of the male. The first of these is adopted whenever a female 

 comes within reach of an impressionable male. With lowered head 

 and neck stretched out and held rigidly in a straight line with the 

 body, and the crest carried flat along the neck, he advances towards 



