220 THE HUMAN SIDE OF BIRDS 



She hopes by thus attracting your attention to save 

 her precious eggs in the sand. 



The lapwing, when disturbed, is a pitiable sight 

 with her seemingly broken wings and her mourn- 

 ful cries. Here she tumbles, there she flops, yonder 

 she runs, but ever away from her nest ! Her mate 

 also adds to the performance by innumerable aerial 

 gyrations which aid in distracting the attention of 

 the observer from a near-by nest where the little 

 ones are hopelessly exposed in the thin grass. 



Many shore-haunting birds have devised methods 

 of hiding their eggs. The guillemot makes no nest, 

 but lays one egg in a hole in the side of a cliff. The 

 ringed dotterel makes her nest on a bank of debris 

 and sticks the eggs up on end so as to resemble drift- 

 wood. Partridges and pheasants usually lay their 

 eggs on dark leaves, and ofttimes cover them when 

 they go away. The water ouzel builds a domed nest 

 which looks like a bunch of green moss. The gold- 

 crest swings her delicate hanging-nest among the 

 long, drooping pine boughs, where it is very diffi- 

 cult to find. 



The eggs and plumage of certain game birds are 

 yery difficult to detect from their surroundings. The 

 snipe has a pencilled plumage which is hard to dis- 

 cern among the brown marshes where the bird is 

 found. The woodcock's leaf -strewn nest may be 



