THE LAPWING 



VANELLUS CRISTATUS 



LOCAL names in surrounding counties : " Green Plover," 

 " Horned Pie," " Black Plover " (Essex). 



STATUS IN BRITISH AVIFAUNA : A widely and generally 

 distributed resident, commonest in Scotland and Ireland, 

 wandering much in autumn and winter, its numbers 

 increased at the former season by migrants from the 

 Continent. 



RADIAL DISTRIBUTION WITHIN FIFTEEN MILES OF ST. 

 PAUL'S : It is recorded that the Lapwing formerly bred in 

 Richmond Park, but it is very seldom seen there nowa- 

 days, and does not nest anywhere probably within our 

 limits, unless in one or two scattered localities in the most 

 outlying and rural situations. The bird, however, is a 

 fairly well-known winter visitor to the Metropolitan area, 

 small flocks locally appearing on the various sewage- 

 farms and agricultural lands. It is a tolerably regular 

 visitor to the Wanstead and Epping areas, to various 

 parts of North London, Mill Hill, Elstree, Stanmore, 

 Pinner, Harrow, Wembley, and Hendon. I have also 

 records from Southall, Hounslow, Osterley, Bushey, 

 Wimbledon, Kingston, Merton, Banstead, Croydon, 

 Epsom, the Grays, and Dartford. It would be very 

 interesting to ascertain how close to London City the 

 Lapwing actually breeds. Our ignorance on the point 

 only shows how little we know concerning the rarer birds 

 of the Metropolitan district, and how many interest- 

 ing facts remain to be elucidated by the worker in this 

 populous area. I can record this species breeding close to 

 Uxbridge Common in the spring of 1905 ; and I have 

 reason to believe that scattered pairs do so between 

 that place and Northolt ; whilst considerable numbers 

 nest at Kenton, in the Kingsbury district, whence I 



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