OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. I53 



as a rule the advance guard present a very even line. The note 

 of this Plover is a peculiar mewing or nasal pee-weet, variously 

 modulated into weet-a-weet pee-weet-weet ; whilst during the pairing 

 season the male still further modulates this note into several 

 distinct cries. In autumn the Lapwing becomes more gregarious, 

 and most of the summer stations on high exposed ground are 

 deserted for the winter. The bird then often becomes remarkably 

 numerous in littoral districts, in the wild saltings and rough 

 marshes where an abundant supply of food can be obtained in 

 almost all weathers. Great numbers of these Plovers are killed 

 at this season for the table, but they do not command either the 

 high price or the ready sale of the Golden Plover, and their 

 flesh is not only dark but often accompanied by an unpleasant taste. 

 Shot during early autumn, however, they are often by no means 

 unpalatable. The food of the Lapwing consists of worms, snails, 

 grubs, insects, seeds, and tender shoots and various ground fruits 

 growing in the bird's more upland haunts. 



Nidification. — The Lapwing is an early breeder. As a rule, 

 if the season be fairly forward the first eggs are laid at the end of 

 March, but fresh eggs may be found in greatest abundance 

 throughout April, less frequently in May, and occasionally even 

 in the beginning of June. Birds breeding in warm, sheltered 

 southern localities are of course much earlier than those living in 

 more exposed and northern districts, The nest is either made on 

 the moors, near the shelter or even in the centre of a tuft of 

 rushes, on the top of a mole-hill, or on the bare ploughed land, 

 or on the grass. It is merely a hollow, into which a few scraps 

 of dry herbage are collected, and in many cases no provision 

 whatever is made. The eggs are normally four in number, but I 

 have been informed of a reliable clutch of five. They vary from 

 buff to olive in ground colour (in rare instances very pale greenish 

 blue), blotched and spotted with blackish brown and gray. They 

 measure on an average i'q inch in length by i"3 inch in breadth. 

 Both parents assist in the task of incubation, which lasts from 

 twenty-five to twenty-six days. The hens will continue laying 

 from time to time after their eggs are taken, but only one brood 

 is reared in the year. The eggs of this Plover are a highly-prized 

 table delicacy, and are much sought after for the markets, the 



