296 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



LAPWINGS {VANELLUS VULGARIS) IN THE 

 PAIRING SEASON. 



By S. E. Brock. 



In the arable portions of the Lothians, Lapwings are present, 

 as a rule, throughout the winter in considerable flocks, showing 

 preference by day for particular fields, but scattering more 

 widely to feed as dusk approaches. Only during a prolonged 

 period of frost do they disappear entirely, and in a mild and 

 open winter their numbers are greatly in excess of the local 

 breeding stock. Towards the close of February or early in 

 March the latter reappears on the nesting grounds, and the 

 activities characteristic of the pairing season are at once 

 initiated, although confined in the first place to a few birds, the 

 other arrivals remaining apart in a loose flock. From the 

 numbers of the latter it would appear that a proportion is com- 

 posed of foreigners, and the gradual dwindling of the flock from 

 day to day goes to support the supposition ; while occasionally, 

 on the passage overhead of a band of migrants, one or two in- 

 dividuals may be seen suddenly to take wing, and, answering the 

 call of the travellers, follow them in hasty flight northwards. 



If the birds are disturbed at this early season, the looseness 

 of their connection with the nesting ground is shown by their 

 tendency to desert it — a tendency equally apparent in the birds 

 still flocked, and in those individuals which have separated 

 from their fellows and commenced their spring activities. It 

 is, however, interesting to note that the latter, before quitting 

 the nesting ground, frequently circle overhead for a little, 

 emitting notes of alarm and anger, and acting in a manner 

 closely approaching their behaviour when eggs have been laid — 

 a good illustration of the " association by contiguity," so 

 characteristic of avian psychology. The field thus deserted by 

 the birds may remain tenantless for hours, frequently until the 

 dusk of evening. Apart from outside disturbance, at frequent 

 intervals the birds leave the grounds of their own accord, par- 

 ticularly during early afternoon, and until mid-March, or even 



