Northern News. 311 
more than a single enemy, and even he is impotent during the 
most important part of the year. On the grass-lands the 
species has multiplied with our cattle, while elsewhere the 
plough has ousted all rivals, only to provide a safe shelter for 
the lapwing’s eggs and young. 
From these two great mutually-supporting reservoirs the 
birds overflow in all directions, and we find them nesting in the 
most incongruous situations. For extreme cases we need only 
think of salt marshes, rabbit warrens, chalk downs, peat bogs, 
maritime sandhills, and meadows. The lapwing’s first require- 
ment at the nesting season seems to be open ground, preferably 
free from tall herbage. If the land is under the plough there will 
always be fields lying fallow, and providing excellent hiding 
places ; if not, the presence in the locality of a few horses or 
cattle provides the bird with all the shelter it requires. Away 
from the influence of man it is just a rather aberrant wader 
struggling for existence with a host of other birds. It is not 
the fashion to seek for instances of Commensalism or Mutualism 
in the higher ranks of life, or one of these terms might be 
applied to this association of Homo sapiens and Vanellus 
vulgaris. 
Although the great majority of breeding female lapwings 
have white chins, some authors state that the sexes are alike. 
Others say that old hens develop black chins, but never have 
long crests. A specimen in the Oldham Museum has a black 
chin and a crest as long as any male’s, although the wing 
formula (rst primary as long as 4th) proves the bird to be a 
female. Before the youngsters are able to fly the sexes may be 
readily separated by the shape of their wings. 
In a paper recently read to the Geological Society on the Flora of the 
Inferior Oolite of Brora (Sutherland), Miss M. C. Stopes pointed out that 
most of the species found are identical with those of the Inferior Oolite of 
Yorkshire. 
With the July number the ‘ Bradford Scientific Journal’ commences its 
second volume. Mr. A. Whitaker gives some interesting notes on the 
‘Scenes and Habits of Bats,’ Mr. T. Sheppard writes on ‘Museums and 
their Functions,’ Mr. W. H. Whitaker gives an account of the ‘Fishes of 
Upper Airedale,’ and Mr. W. P. Winter refers to the ‘ Mediterranean Plants 
in the Bradford Botanical Gardens.’ There are some useful extracts from 
the Note-book of the late W. Cudworth. These are chiefly geological. A 
new feature is ‘Science and Nature Notes.’ These add to the interest of the 
journal and are certainly preferable to the queries and answers which 
formerly appeared. These Science Notes, however, are rather scrappy 
and would be more useful if more local in character. We were surprised to 
find Mr. A. Whitaker referring to ‘ the thirty-five wild animals indigenous 
to this county,’ and throughout the article he appears to substitute ‘animals’ 
for ‘mammals.’ 
907 September 1. 
