The Lapwings 353 



pass out of sight around some projecting point. They feed largely on shell- 

 fish. The nest is a mere depression in the sand, and the eggs, usually three 

 in number, are buffy white spotted and blotched with chocolate. The female, 

 it is said by many observers, only sits on the eggs at night or during dark days, 

 otherwise leaving the sun and hot sand to perform the work of incubation. 

 In the Black Oyster-catcher (H. bachmani} of the Pacific coast of North America 

 the plumage is entirely blackish; its habits are similar to those of the forms 

 already mentioned. Other species are found in eastern Asia, New Zealand, 

 Australia, Africa, and southern South America. 



Wattled Plovers. As an example of a group of some eight or nine genera 

 of mainly Old World forms, in which the tarsus is transversely scaled in front 

 and reticulated behind, we may only mention the Wattled Plovers (Lobiva- 

 nellus), three of the four known species of which are confined to Africa and 

 the other to Australia. They are about a foot in length and may be distinguished 

 at once by the presence of a distinct facial wattle and a well-developed spur 

 on the wing, as well as by a small hind toe and somewhat lobed bill. Of the sev- 

 eral species the Senegal Wattled Plover (L. senegalus} is a striking example, being 

 brown tinged with green above, the wings black, and the tail white crossed by 

 a broad black bar, while the chin is white, the throat black, and the remaining 

 under parts dove-color; the wattle before the eye is yellow tinged with orange- 

 red. It frequents river banks and the borders of marshes, singly, in pairs, or 

 small flocks, and feeds largely on insects and small mollusks. 



The Lapwings, of which there are many forms, take their name from their 

 slow, flapping flight. They are quite closely related to the Plovers, from which 

 they may be distinguished by the central pair of tail-feathers having more or 

 less of white on their basal portions, while the blunt wings may or may not be 

 spurred, and the hind toe present or absent; in several species the head is dis- 

 tinctly crested. For the most part they are gregarious birds, frequenting mainly 

 open fields, downs, or sometimes marshy ground, and occasionally the seacoast 

 in winter. Their food consists of insects and mollusks, which are secured at 

 least partially at night. 



One of the best-known species is the common Lapwing ( Vanellus vanellus) of 

 the northern portions of the Eastern Hemisphere, occasionally straying to Green- 

 land, Alaska, and northern China. It is about thirteen inches long, and has the 

 upper parts mainly metallic bottle-green, bluish, and coppery purple, the top 

 of the head, chin, throat, and breast a uniform blue-black, while the sides of the 

 neck and abdomen are white ; the crest is very long, slender, and recurved ; the 

 hind toe is present but small. The Lapwing is one of the commonest and best- 

 known birds of the order in western Europe, being especially abundant through- 

 out the British Islands, where it is a resident during the whole year, and in the 

 Arctic regions of Scandinavia and Siberia, where it is only a summer visitor. 

 When on the ground it presents an elegant and graceful appearance, but when 

 it takes towing its heavy, flapping, Heron-like flight is quite in contrast. "But," 

 says Mr. Hudson, "no sooner does he begin to practice his favorite evolutions 

 in the air than a fresh surprise is experienced. Rising to* a height of forty or 



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