THE LAPWING 381 



willuch-willuch" with occasional periods of wing-humming. 1 The whole 

 performance suggests exuberance of spirits rather than real rivalry. 

 It is continued even after the eggs are laid. 



Real hostility is displayed 'if a male encroaches on the domain 

 of another. The fighting, as a rule, is one-sided, the bird that is 

 encroached upon attacking the trespasser with great persistency, 

 swooping from all directions at him as he stands on the ground. 

 The bird so attacked avoids the rushes aimed at it by well timed 

 upward springs, allowing the other to pass beneath it, or by swerving 

 to one side, always endeavouring or appearing to do so to keep to 

 the ground. 2 The attacker does not desist until he has forced the 

 other into flight. The latter seems to act almost entirely on the 

 defensive, but often with such obstinacy that the struggle may last 

 according to Mr. Brock as long as an hour or an hour and a half on 

 end. 3 The amount of territory each bird reserves to itself varies 

 considerably ; two nests are found occasionally very near to each 

 other, but as a rule they are a good distance apart. Encroachment is 

 the chief cause of squabbles. Mr. Brock has noticed that the males 

 are very jealous of each other when scraping, and for one to scrape 

 when another is near is sure to result in hostilities. The same cause 

 will produce a fracas between two females, and Mr. Brock states that 

 he has several times observed " encounters between two females ended 

 by a male bird rushing up and separating the combatants, and, not 

 content with terminating the strife, he attacks one of the females, 

 driving it to some distance," and "on one occasion a male, which 

 was courting a female bird, suddenly desisted to attack and pursue 

 a second female at a little distance." 4 



The male has been seen to approach the nest, after an egg had 

 been laid, " as though with the intention of scraping, but on reaching it 

 he contented himself with standing erect over it, moving his tail gently 

 up and down and plucking at straws." He does not apparently work 



1 See also Zoologist, 1911, p. 298. 



1 See also Selous, Bird Watching, p. 30 ; and Zoologist, 1911, p. 299. 



3 Zoologist, 1911, p. 299. 4 Ibid., 1911, p. 301. & Ibid., 1911, p. 304. 



