NOTES ON THE COURTSHIP OF THE LAPWING. 221 



were no birds to be seen in the fields until an hour and a half 

 after sunrise, when about twenty Plover flew over in a flock, 

 presumably from some other feeding ground. They alighted on 

 the plough, and stood about preening themselves and resting. 

 As well as I could identify them through the glasses, all these 

 birds were males. 



Approximate Number of Performances. 



Date. 



b. 



c 1. 



c 2. 



d. 



Remarks. 



Feb. 23rd . 







1 













„ 24th . 



4 



2 













„ 26th . 



1 



2 













„ 27th . 



















[Birds flew in after 

 { sunrise. 



March 1st . 



















Ditto. 



„ 2nd . 







1 











Ditto. 



„ 4th . 



2 



many 











Females first appeared. 



„ 5th . 



few 



many 













„ 6th . 



many 



many 



2 



1 





„ 7th . 



— 



many 



few 



2 





„ 9th . 



many 



many 



few 







Males plentiful. 



„ 12th . 



3 



few 



many 



1 





„ 13th . 



— 



few 



few 







Birds feeding in pairs. 



„ 14th . 



2 



few 



many 









„ 16th . 



4 



few 



many 







J Males outnumbered 

 ( females 6 to 2. 



„ 18th . 



continuous 



— 



many 



1 





„ 19th . 



few 



3 



many 









On March 3rd I was unable to visit the place, but on the 

 4th when I, tired of the fruitless morning visit, went up in the 

 forenoon, I found the birds very active, and counted among 

 them four females, or about thirty per cent, of their number. 

 From this date onwards both sexes were present each day, 

 although the cocks always largely outnumbered the hens. On 

 March 5th, 6th, 7th and 9th, the number of performances 

 gradually increased. The male birds were very noisy and 

 quarrelsome. On the 13th and 14th came a diminution in 

 the numbers of actions seen, except in the case of c 2, which 

 became more frequent. On the 13th I first noticed birds in 

 pairs dotted about the field, but there was still a great surplus 

 of cocks, and on the 16th I noted males outnumbered females in 

 proportions of six to two. On March 19th my regular observa- 



