﻿1 2 Birds 



are old black-breasted birds in more or less faded dress ; during 

 September the young birds make their appearance in large 

 numbers, followed by the bulk of the adults in October. A return 

 migration takes place in March. 



The Golden Plover breeds on the moors throughout the British 

 Islands, very sparingly in the southern counties of Devon,. 

 Somerset and Wales. From Derbyshire northwards it becomes 

 more abundant, and on the moors of the northern islands it is 

 common. 



The nest is a depression in the turf, scantily lined with grass 

 or bits of the surrounding herbage, and generally a few feathers, 

 probably from the breast of the parent bird, rubbed off while 

 turning round and round to smooth and shapen the depression. 

 The eggs, four in number, are very large for the size of the bird ; 

 they vary from pale ochreous to olive-brown in ground-colour, and 

 are handsomely spotted and blotched with purplish-grey and rich 

 deep brown. The Golden Plover feeds on insects, slugs and 

 worms. 



In the breeding plumage the upper parts are black, densely 

 spotted with golden-yellow and creamy-white ; a white band 

 passes from the forehead over the eye, down the side of the neck, 

 breast, and flank, extending to the white under tail-coverts ; the 

 ear-coverts, throat, and breast are black ; bill black ; legs and feet 

 bluish-grey ; irides brown. 



The female has rather less black on the breast. In winter all 

 the black of the face, throat, and breast is replaced by white. 



LAPWING, or PEEWIT. 



Vanellus vanellus. 



The Lapwing, also commonly called Peewit or Green Plover, is- 

 of general distribution throughout the British Islands ; it is 

 especially abundant in Scotland and Ireland. In autumn large 

 numbers arrive from the Continent, when they assemble in flocks, 

 which increase in number during the winter and disperse at the 

 approach of spring for nesting purposes, which usually begin in 

 April ; the favourite breeding haunts are marshes, rough pasture 

 and fallow lands. The nest is a slight hollow lined with a few 

 bents. The eggs almost invariably number four, but five are 



