222 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



its young one, and I looked back through my glasses when I was 

 nearly two hundred yards distant, and still saw one wing waving 

 in the air. 



The markings of the downy nestlings are well adapted to 

 conceal it from the observer, while the irregular shape of the 

 young bird and the rough surface of the down make it un- 

 doubtedly less noticeable than the eggs. Its upper surface is 

 grey, stippled with a darker shade of grey and some black, and a 

 little tinge of yellow, and there is a narrow ring of black down 

 round the back of the neck. The whole of the under side is 

 white, with no sign of the black pectoral band which is such a 

 distinctive feature of the old bird. The front of the tarsi and 

 the upper surface of the feet and toes are greyish lead-colour, the 

 back and under surfaces of the same parts being dull flesh-colour. 

 The tip of the beak is black, and the base flesh-colour. There 

 is a small tract of skin on each side of its neck, and under each 

 wing quite bare of down. 



Another nest of this species, which had been found on the 

 15th May with four eggs all chipped, was shown to me on the 

 16th with all the four nestlings hatched out and still in the nest, 

 lying in the typical position already described, as close together 

 as possible, and with all four beaks pointing in one direction. I 

 could see no trace of any egg-shells anywhere near the nest. The 

 down of these was as already described, except that there was a 

 bare tract of skin on the shoulders. On the evening of May 

 20th I found a nest with two young ones hatched, and the other 

 two eggs chipped. The following morning, at nine o'clock, a 

 third bird was hatched, the down being still damp, and the three 

 young and the fourth egg being all in the nest hollow. Unfortu- 

 nately, as I was leaving the same morning, I was unable to watch 

 this nest any longer. I was rather surprised in both these cases 

 at the young staying so long in the nest after being hatched, but, 

 as we were having rather cold weather at the time, this would no 

 doubt influence their behaviour. 



The conduct of the Lapwing about its nest and eggs was much 

 the same as that of the Ring Plover. It would settle on the 

 beach at some distance from its nest, and make a similar series 

 of devious runs, until with a final short run it would settle on its 

 eggs ; also when disturbed it would generally run a short distance 



