32 



KEARTONS' NATURE PICTURES 



LAPWING'S NEST AND EGGS. 



from one or other of their parents tells 

 them that the danger has passed. The 

 down covering a young Peewit is splen- 

 didly adapted for protection, for, in 

 addition to its yellowish fawn ground- 

 colour being broken up by blackish 

 brown markings, a greyish white collar 



runs round the neck in such a way as, 

 in certain aspects, to break the con- 

 tinuity of the outline of the body, 

 and thus make the bird appear to its 

 enemies as two distinct objects instead 

 of one. A little reflection will show 

 what a wonderful provision of Nature 

 this is for the protection of a defence- 

 less chick. 



Even when a young Lapwing is fully 

 clothed in its first coat of feathers, and 

 able to fly a couple of hundred yards, 

 it will trust to its hiding powers, and 

 I must confess to having passed by 

 chicks in positions similar to those 

 shown in the illustration below, having 

 mistaken their appearance for bits of 

 dried cow-dung. 



The male Peewit wears a longer 

 crest than the female, and has a shriller 

 voice. Both birds show great courage 

 in defence of their young, and it is 

 sometimes amusing to watch them 

 driving sheep away from the neighbour- 

 hood of their nests. 



