56 BRITISH BIRDS. 



Genus VANELLUS. 



Curiously enough, the Lapwings were included by Linnseus in his genus 

 Tringa; but in 1803 Bechstein ( f Ornithologiscb.es Taschenbuch/ ii. p. 313) 

 adopted the germs Vanellus, which Brisson had established for their 

 reception in 1760 in his ' Ornithologia/ v. p. 94. The Common Lapwing, 

 the Tringa vanellus of Linnaeus and the Vanellus vanellus of Brisson, is 

 the type. 



The Lapwings belong to the group of genera in this family in which 

 the front of the tarsus, and sometimes the back also, is scutellated, or 

 covered with broad transverse plates, instead of being reticulated or covered 

 with small hexagonal scales. They are distinguished from the other genera 

 of this family, in which the tarsus is scutellated in front, by the peculiar 

 shape of the bill, which is the same as that in the genus Charadrius. 

 From the species in the latter genus, some of which have the tarsus 

 scutellated, they may be distinguished by their rounded wings, the first, 

 second, third, and fourth primaries being nearly equal in length. Some 

 species have a hind toe, but in others it is absent; some have a spur on 

 the carpal joint, some a rudimentary knob only, and others no trace of 

 one ; some have crests on their heads, and others only indications of one, 

 whilst wattles, in some species developed to an extraordinary extent, in 

 others very slightly, are often present. 



There are about thirty species in this genus, which are distributed 

 throughout the world, except in the Arctic regions, in North America, 

 and in New Zealand. 



The Lapwings do not differ much in their habits from the Plovers. 

 They chiefly frequent, during the breeding-season, inland moors, marshy 

 commons, fallows, and pastures, retiring at the approach of winter to 

 maritime districts. Their flight is slow, but graceful and often very erratic ; 

 and their notes are loud, many of them being very melancholy in tone. 

 Their food, for much of which they search in the twilight, is composed of 

 worms, mollusks, insects, &c. Their nests are very slight, mere depressions 

 in the ground lined with a few scraps of herbage ; and their eggs, four in 

 number, do not differ from those of the Plovers. 



