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 



