PLOVERS AND SANDPIPERS. 83 



forest growth. The nest is always made upon the 

 ground, and is merely a slight hollow, lined with a 

 few scraps of withered herbage. The four eggs 

 very closely resemble those of the Lapwing, but 

 are not quite so olive. When once flushed from 

 the nest the Gray Plover becomes very wary and 

 restless, and does not return for some time ; should 

 the young be hatched various alluring antics are 

 indulged in to withdraw attention from them. 



LAPWING. 



This bird is the typical species of Brisson's 

 genus Vanellus, and is known to most naturalists 

 as Vanellus cristatus or vulgaris. It cannot easily 

 be confused with any other British bird, and is 

 readily identified by its long conspicuous crest, 

 metallic green, suffused with purple upper parts, and 

 bright chestnut upper and under tail coverts. 

 Further, its appearance in the air, so far as British 

 Limicoline birds are concerned, is unique ; the 

 curiously rounded wings, and deliberate Heron-like 

 flight, together with the peculiar note, make the 

 matter of its identification easy to the veriest tyro 

 in ornithology. The Lapwing is also not only the 

 commonest of its order found in Britain, but cer- 

 tainly the most widely dispersed. Nevertheless, it 

 is only during the non-breeding season that the 

 Lapwing can fairly be described as a marine bird. 

 From March onwards to the early autumn it retires 

 to inland moors, pastures, and rough undrained 



