244 BIRDS' NESTS. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



EGGS VARIOUS. 



LAPWING. Vanellus cristatus. 

 PLATE XXII. EIG. 1. 



THE eggs of this bird are so diligently sought 

 for as an article of luxury, or rather display, 

 for the tables of the wealthy, (for, in reality, 

 there is nothing particularly delicious in their 

 flavour,) that it is almost a wonder that Lap- 

 wings have not been long ago extinct. The 

 affection of this bird for its young is very 

 remarkable, and deserves a better fate. It 

 makes a very slight nest, little more, indeed, 

 than a few dry bents collected in a hole in the 

 ground ; and here it lays four eggs, about two 

 inches long, of a deep olive-coloured ground, 

 blotched and spotted with black. The female 



