LAPWING. 



31 



arms, if it is before the sluing is commenced or after 

 the young are hatched, or all the males are so if it is 

 during the time of incubation. Their gestures in 

 the air upon such occasions are highly amusing ; and 

 if the enemy is on the wing they speedily batter him 

 from the locality by striking at him, not with the bill, 

 but with the turn of the wing, and they strike so 

 rapidly and so hard, without in the least disturbing 

 their own poise, that even the raven himself, strong 

 as are his wings, and formidable as is his bill, is glad 

 to make his escape from them. If the enemy is on 

 the ground, a dog for instance, they annoy him even 

 more ; but while some one feigns lameness, and 

 tempts him on to the pursuit, the others keep flying 

 and wailing about him, and making the sound of 

 their wings" ring in his ears, till he is both bewildered 

 and exhausted ; and when a cur happens to cross the 

 breeding ground of lapwings, he experiences as 

 fatiguing and as profitless a hunt, as mongrels do with 

 a hare, of which the first sight is the nearest. Lap- 

 wings are not quite so violent against human invaders 

 of their breeding grounds, as they are against the 

 predatory birds and quadrupeds ; but still they ex- 

 hibit enough of excitement to show that human 

 beings are not very welcome visiters. They wheel 

 about in the air, uttering their plaintive cry of pee- 

 weet, in a state of no small excitement, while as they 

 turn, which is often within a few inches of the in- 

 truder, the smart twitch which they give to the air 

 with their wings sounds in the ear as if a blow were 

 actually given. The cry is very wailing and melan- 

 choly in the sound, and the birds seem in great dis- 

 tress ; but it is possible to subdue their excitement, 

 and observe them on the ground conducting them- 

 selves with much apparent complacency, as if they 

 felt grateful for not being injured. If one chooses 

 to walk for a little while backwards and forwards 

 over the breeding ground of lapwings, it is not long 

 befor the whole of them suspend their clamour and 

 their aerial activity, descend to the ground, and in 

 perfect silence run about, as if showing themselves 

 to him and claiming his acquaintance, and if it is a 

 fine day, so that the sun brings out the metallic glances 

 of the colours, it is impossible to imagine a finer sight 

 than those running lapwings, which are perfectly 

 familiarised to the observer, and will run almost to 

 his feet without the least apprehension. If the her- 

 bage is not beaten, as if one were searching for nests 

 or young ones, Iheir excitement soon goes off, and 

 they allow themselves to be approached within a 

 very short distance. Indeed, they have little or no 

 apprehension or dread, except for their eggs or their 

 young, because they are so clever both on the foot 

 and the wing, and can get so readily from the one to 

 the other, that they have less occasion to fear enemies 

 than almost any other birds. To the kite arid the 

 sparrow-hawk they are perfectly indifferent, because 

 the first of these has scarcely courage sufficient for 

 attacking so large a bird as a lapwing ; and the 

 second is so moderate in the velocity of its rush, 

 though otherwise a formidable creature in proportion 

 to its size, that the lapwing can get out of its way. 

 Even the gos-hawk makes but little prey of the lap- 

 wing ; but if the ger-falcon comes in the way, the 

 doom of the lapwing is sealed notwithstanding the 

 number and variety of its manoeuvres. Yet, even 

 the ger-falcon cannot get the better of the lapwing 

 without gaining its topmost sky, and putting in exer- 

 cise its most powerful rush ; and therefore the cap- 



ture of a lapwing by a ger-falcon is one of the finest 

 sights in the whole action of birds. 



Earth-worms are understood to constitute at every 

 season of the year the principal food of the lapwing ; 

 and as those worms are always under ground when 

 the sun is out, the birds are obliged to feed early in 

 the. morning, and thus they have the bright part of 

 the day for repose, for sport, or for those manoeuvres 

 which they exercise in order to entice enemies, or 

 suspected enemies, away from their nests and their 

 young. We forgot to mention, when speaking of 

 their resources in this way, the artifices of the 

 female when sitting. As she and her nest are gene- 

 rally concealed under cover of vegetation of "some 

 kind or other, she does not rise readily ; and as the 

 male has fed before the time that visiters are gene- 

 rally abroad, he is in the vicinity, and on the alert to 

 play off all his wiles for the purpose of keeping the 

 female and the nest undisturbed and in safety. If, 

 however, he should not succeed, and danger ap- 

 proaches nearer than the distance at which the 

 instinct of the female teaches her that she is safe, she 

 makes her escape from the nest. But she always 

 plans it such a manner as that she can run unob- 

 served before she rises ; and if the danger is not very 

 near, she runs to meet it, and then springs upward as 

 if just started, and makes off in a direction which 

 takes her still farther from it. In her progress she 

 counterfeits lameness or mutilation, and tumbles 

 along as if her legs or wings were broken, in order 

 as it were to tempt the enemy with an easy capture; 

 and if that enemy is a dog, especially a cur which 

 runs indiscriminately at 'every thing, she is generally 

 successful in her enticement. The pursuer very often 

 gets nearly up to her, and this nearing induces him 

 to proceed ; but whenever he comes almost to close 

 quarters, the apparently crippled bird gets very easily 

 on the wing, and dashes so far in advance that she 

 can again descend to the ground and practise her 

 feigned lameness. When by the continuance of these 

 stratagems she has succeeded in enticing the enemy 

 to a sufficient distance from the nest, she rises on the 

 wing, dashes off at rapid flight in another direction, 

 doubles after a certain distance, and returning alights 

 on the opposite side of the nest, and then runs to it 

 in the same hiding manner with which she quitted it 

 at the first. In consequence of these manoeuvres, the 

 nest of the lapwing is very rarely seen in proportion 

 to the numbers of the birds ; and when seen, it is 

 rather by accident than from being betrayed by the 

 rising of the female. 



In the upland districts where lapwings, generally 

 speaking, breed, we believe (though the fact has not 

 been absolutely ascertained) that earth-worms, which 

 constitute the principal food of these birds, pair only 

 once a year, and that at the season when the lap- 

 wings have their broods, and stand most in need of 

 provisions. But in the lower and warmer region?, 

 the same worms are understood to pair twice in the 

 year, namely, in the spring and in the autumn ; and 

 as they are in the best condition and most above the 

 ground during the pairing time, they furnish the 

 birds with an ample supply of food, both at the time 

 when they are dispersed over their breeding places, 

 and at those when they are on their journeys from 

 and to the perennial pastures of the shores of the 

 sea. 



In many of the books which profess to treat of 

 natural history, and which, like most professions and 



