NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



153 



The Lapwing or Peewit is one of the most familiar birds of Europe. A rare 

 visitant in Greenland and other parts of North America. Abundant in all suitable 

 localities in Great Britain and in all the adjacent smaller islands. Found as far 

 north as the Faroes, and in Iceland. Common in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and 

 throughout Russia. It is not so abundant in various portions of Continental 

 Europe, as in France, Spain and Italy. The Lapwing is a handsome plover; in the 



269. LAPWING (From Brehm). 



adult in summer dress the fore part and top of the head, chin, throat and breast is 

 uniform blue-black; side of head and neck white, grayish behind the neck; upper 

 parts chiefly metallic bottle green, changing to a coppery purple. From the occiput 

 springs a long crest of narrow bluish-black feathers which curve upwards. It is 

 commonly called Te-wit, Crested Lapwing, Green Lapwing and Green Plover. The 

 nests of this bird are like those of all the Plovers slight depressions in the soil with 

 a few grasses for a lining. The eggs are four^in number; they vary from a dull, 

 light, grayish-buff to deep olive buff, more or less heavily marked with spots and 

 blotches of brownish-black; they are pyriform in shape. Four eggs in my cabinet, 

 collected in Staffordshire, England, April 18, measure 1.88x1.30, 1.89x1.32, 1.84x1.36. 

 1.82x1.32. The average size is 1.85x1.33. The eggs are regarded as a delicacy and 

 are much sought after in all districts where the bird is common. 



