FEBRUARY 57 



VII 



It is not easy, nay it is probably impossible, to account 

 for the difference in the behaviour of various gir^g ^n^ 

 species of birds in the presence of Man the ^^^ 

 arch enemy. I do not mean the greater or less bold- 

 ness, or, as we call it, tameness, exhibited by individuals, 

 but the average of confidence or nervous suspicion 

 characterising a whole species as contrasted with 

 another species. Why, for instance, does the lapwing so 

 frequently fly within easy gunshot and, in the nesting 

 season, circle round and round the intruder, seeking to 

 lead him astray from its eggs or young by frenzied 

 screams and freak wingmanship ? The curlew, on the 

 other hand, though a very near relative of the lapwing, 

 is most watchful against the approach of any human 

 being, taking flight with piercing cries of alarm at the 

 first inkling of his presence. Yet of the two species, 

 surely the lapwing has more reason for dread of man 

 than the curlew; for those who have tasted roast 

 curlew (of whom I am not one) do not seem to hanker 

 after more ; nor are curlews' eggs commonly collected 

 for food ; whereas hundreds of thousands of lapwings' 

 eggs are sent to market annually for the delectation of 

 those who fare sumptuously every day, and, shameful 

 to say, the parent birds are netted or shot in numbers 

 that may be guessed at from the display of their 

 pretty corpses in poulterers' shops in any of our great 

 towns. Lapwings are palmed off as golden plover 

 upon the customers of restaurants, and the feet are 

 almost invariably removed before the birds are served 

 at table; else it would be easy to detect the imposi- 



