164 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL 



however, they are far from 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 in the beginning of June. Birds breeding in warm, sheltered 

 southern locaHties 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, 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 reliably informed of a 

 clutch of five. At least two other similar instances have been recorded. They 

 vary from buff to olive in ground-colour (in rare instances very pale blue), 

 blotched and spotted with blackish-brown and grey. They measure on an 

 average 1'9 inch in length by 1'3 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 one brood only 

 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 earliest of the season often 

 commanding as much as twelve shillings a dozen retail. Numbers are sent to 

 this country from the continent, and the eggs of other species are not unfrequently 

 passed off for them by unscrupulous dealers. The Lapwing as a rule does not 

 manifest much concern for the safety of its eggs, apparently well aware that 

 their protective colour will shield them from discovery ; but when the young are 

 hatched the old birds often become very demonstrative, and will reel and tumble 

 along the ground, or sweep round an intruder's head, all the time uttering wailing 

 notes of alarm. 



Diagnostic characters — Vanellus, with a long crest, the upper plumage 

 loricated with metallic tints, with no white on the wing coverts, and with the 

 upper and under tail coverts chestnut. Length, 13 inches. 



