LOBITANBLLUS. 343 



do occasionally breed even higher up than this (5500 feet). During 

 the breeding-season they are exceptionally bold in the defence of 

 their nests, so much so that I have known them attack a person 

 who was taking their eggs, and have seen them drive away a dog 

 which came too near their eggs or young. They also assault 

 jackals when guilty of the same presumption. 



" They do not build any nest, but lay their eggs in slight hollows 

 in a concealed spot. They lay from four to six eggs, which are 

 sometimes very difficult to find from their great resemblance in 

 colour to the surrounding objects. They are always placed with 

 the thin ends in the centre of the nest, and are chiefiy found in 

 the months of April and May." 



Mr. Scrope Doig writes from Bind : — " Took numerous nests 

 from March to end of July ; no nest contained more than four 

 eggs." 



Colonel Butler records the following note : — " I found a nest of 

 the Eed-wattled Lapwing in a river-bed near Deesa on the 9th 

 April, 1876, containing one fresh egg, which I took. The nest ^as 

 a depression in the sand lined with flood-deposited wood fragments. 

 The old birds attracted my attention by rising from the ground 

 and dashing at every Crow that passed anywhere near the spot, 

 returning when the Crow had passed on each time to the same 

 place. I went and searched, and soon discovered the nest. 



"Another nest near the same place on some rocks by the river- 

 side containing one fresh egg, 16th April. Another near Deesa, 

 containing two eggs ready to hatch, April 10th. Another nest in 

 a river-bed near Deesa, 17th April, incubated. A nest in a ploughed 

 field near a tank, on the 24th August, containing three fresh eggs. 

 I fancy this was an exceptionally late nest." 



Eeferring to Afghanistan, Lieut. H. E. Barnes writes : — " The 

 Eed-wattled Lapwing is rare owing to the scarcity of water. I 

 have only noted two pairs, and have found but one nest, similar 

 in all respects to those found in India ; it contained four eggs, 

 hard-set. This was on the 10th May." 



Messrs. Davidson and Wenden, writing of the Deccan, say : — 

 " Common, and breeds from March to August." 



Mr. Gr. Vidal writes from the iSouth Konkan : — " Abundant 

 everywhere, usually in pairs, but sometimes in large flocks. 

 Breeds in bare stubbles on the banks of the rivers in March and 

 April." 



Mr. 0. J. W. Taylor took eggs in Mysore on the 27th April. 

 Colonel Legge informs us that this Plover breeds in Ceylon in 

 May, June, and July. 



The eggs of this species are of the typical Plover type — nor- 

 mally broad and obtuse at one end and much pointed towards the 

 other. Oval, truncated, and greatly elongated varieties also occur. 

 The ground-colour varies of course as in all Plovers, — in some a 

 clear pale olive-green, in some a yellow, in others a reddish buff, 

 while occasionally it is almost coffee-coloured. The markings are 

 intensely deep brown or black ; and there are blotches, strealvs, 



