3 04 LAKES AND STREAMS 



toe, or only a stump of one. They are represented by a large number of species 

 distributed all over the globe, and inhabiting steppes, barren heaths, ploughed 

 ground, sandy banks of rivers and lakes, or mountain moors. The present species 

 is found amid scanty vegetation, on sandy river-banks and the shores of large inland 

 lakes and their islands, though it often nests on sandy plains far distant from water. 

 On migration it always keeps near water, but principally such as flows over a sandy 

 or gravelly bed. The four grey pear-shaped eggs are laid point-inwards in a mere 

 cavity in the sand, and are said to be sometimes abandoned by the female to be 

 hatched by the hot rays of the sun. The little ringed plover is curiously quick in 

 its movements, running at a rate of about eight steps a second, so that even a good 

 walker is scarcely able to overtake it. When running, it draws in its head and neck, 

 and frequently stops to look around. In the main these birds are gregarious, and 

 most lively in the morning and at dusk, when they amuse themselves by running 

 and flying about in chase of each other. They feed on small beetles, flies, and 

 other insects and their larvae. The species is widely distributed throughout Europe 

 and Asia, its range extending from Iceland to New Guinea. In length it is nearly 

 7 inches. The beak is black with a small yellow spot at the base of the under half ; 

 the legs are dull yellow ; the first primary has a white shaft ; and there is a broad 

 black ring on the white chest. 



Lapwing or The lapwing (Vanellus cristatus) dwells on marshes, moors, 



Green Plover. an( j fields^ from which it seldom wanders far, even on migration. In 

 the Russian Baltic provinces it abounds among the swamps, and it is also common 

 in other marshy parts of the Continent, particularly on the lower Danube. From 

 Europe, where it breeds up to the Arctic Circle, its distributional area extends 

 through Siberia to Japan, and, strange to say, it is found during summer in central 

 Asia on the dry steppes. During winter it appears in flocks in the south of Europe 

 and thence crosses into Africa. Lapwings are gregarious and associate with other 

 birds, but sutler none on their nesting-grounds. From these they drive away even 

 storks, herons, ravens, and the small birds-of-prey with loud screams and furious 

 pecks ; but peregrines and the larger hawks they treat with more respect, and en- 

 deavour to escape from by various devices. The lapwing has a graceful carriage, 

 and when flying produces a curious noise with its rounded wings, by which 

 its presence is betrayed even in the dark. By day it may be recognised by its 

 call of 'pee-wit, and by tins name it is known in every country. Its four eggs — the 

 " plover's eggs " of the game-dealers — are found as early as the end of March in 

 some small depression in the turf, in which a few stalks of grass have been placed 

 crosswise. As soon as their down is dry, often while they have still fragments 

 of egg-shell on their backs, the young birds leave the nest, under the guidance of 

 their mother, to search for food, which chiefly consists of worms, slugs, and insects. 



_ „ ., Another inhabitant of the marshes is the water-rail (Ballus 



aquaticus), which nests throughout the British Isles and is of very 

 wide distribution in Europe and Asia, having been found as far north as Jan 

 Mayen and as far east as Gilgit. It is resident all over northern Europe up to 

 the Arctic Circle, and breeds as far south as the mountains of Morocco and Algeria. 

 It prefers the back-waters of rivers, the low-lying shores of lakes, and long 



