290 LAPWING. 



preached, and will slip off the nest and run some 

 distance before rising from the ground. It is a very 

 active bird on the ground, tripping about with great 

 ease. The protective colour of the eggs of all this 

 family renders them very difficult to be found. 



The nest is on the ground. A few fibres and bits of 

 dry grass are arranged in a small hollow, and in 'this 

 four eggs are laid, with the smaller ends turned 

 inwards. They have a yellowish stone-coloured shell, 

 blotched and spotted with brownish black and purple 

 brown. They may be distinguished from eggs of the 

 Lapwing by their slightly larger size, broader shape 

 and brighter colour. 



"The young ones," says Atkinson, "awkward-looking 

 mottled yellow and brown puff-balls on stilts, run fast 

 and well soon after they are hatched, and do not 

 speedily acquire the use of those wings which, after a 

 time, are to be so strong and swift. Very jealous too 

 are the parents as long as their young are only runners, 

 and very plaintive is their incessant piping if you or 

 your dog approach too near their place of conceal- 

 ment." 



LAPWING. 



VANELLUS CRISTATUS. 

 Genus VANELLUS. 



Peewit Crested Lapwing Green Plover Te-wit 

 Tea-fit. 



The Lapwing is far and away the best known of our 

 Plovers. It is universally distributed throughout the 

 British Isles, and many birds arrive in the autumn to 

 increase its numbers. The Lapwing perhaps is better 



