55 



estimate of the number sold in London during the season, but found it impossible to do so, as 

 numbers of Redshank's, Golden Plover's, and even Black-headed Gull's and Rook's eggs are sold 

 as being veritable Lapwing's eggs. Although difficult to find to any one who is unacquainted 

 with the habits of the bird, yet to those who have been in the habit of seeking for them, the 

 eggs are by no means hard to get ; for by watching the male bird from a considerable distance 

 one can safely calculate upon finding the precise locality where the eggs are deposited. The 

 male bird has the curious habit of flying about in the immediate vicinity of the nest, throwing 

 itself about in the air in the most peculiar manner, as if insane, uttering at the same time a 

 peculiar call or wailing cry, which may almost be called the nuptial song of this species, and 

 which, though it only consists of modifications of its usual wailing cry, is unlike its clear call- 

 note fee-wit, fee-volt. This curious performance appears to be the utterance on the part of the 

 male of intense pleasure, and is only observed when he is in the immediate vicinity of his mate. 

 The female sits close ; but should an intruder approach she steals quietly off her eggs long before 

 he is in the vicinity of the nest, and after running crouched close to the ground for some distance 

 will fly up and circle round the intruder, seeking to lure him from the nest. The attachment 

 exhibited by both male and female for their eggs and young is very great. Should a Crow or 

 any of the less noble birds of prey, such as Harriers or Kestrels, approach their nesting-places, 

 they will collect and mob the intruder, generally succeeding in driving it off; and even should a 

 sheep approach the nest the female will fly up and attempt to drive it off. When the young are 

 hatched they are tended and guarded with the greatest assiduity by their parents, who will fly 

 close round the head of any one who approaches the place where their young are concealed, 

 uttering loud lamentations, and using every endeavour to lure him away; but so soon as the 

 young can fly this intense anxiety on the part of the parents ceases, as the young can then shift 

 for themselves. 



In Denmark, Mr. Benzon informs me, it is " common, and breeds almost everywhere in low, 

 damp localities, especially in grassy places, or sometimes in ploughed land. The nest is a mere 

 depression in the soil on a tussock, but slightly lined with dried grass ; and sometimes in damp 

 places the eggs are wet." Referring to its peculiar habits during the breeding-season, and 

 especially the curious aerial evolutions of the male, Mr. Benzon quotes a few lines from one of 

 the Danish national songs, which, as it loses most of its force in translating, and but few of my 

 readers would understand it if given in the original Danish, I do not reproduce here. 



The food of the Lapwing consists chiefly of worms of various sorts ; and it is, therefore, a 

 most useful bird to the agriculturists. It also feeds on small land crustaceans and various kinds 

 of insects and insect larvse, but it does not appear ever to eat any vegetable substances. 



The eggs of the Lapwing are, so far as my experience goes, always four in number ; but 

 Mr. Benzon informs me that he possesses a setting of five eggs taken on the 13th June, 1869, 

 and that a friend of his has several times found five eggs in one nest. When fresh the ground- 

 colour is brownish olive ; but when blown the greenish shade fades and they become clay-brown ; 

 they are marked with a very few faint purplish brown shell-blotches, and are thickly blotched 

 and spotted with blackish brown. Eggs in my collection from England and Holland vary in 

 size from lf§ by 1^§ to \\% by l^f inch, and are subject to some variation in shape, some being 

 almost pear-shaped, whereas others are much stouter, all, however, tapering much towards the 



