THE LAPWING. 545 



Food. — Chiefly insects ; coleoptera and larvae, orthoptera (grass- 

 hoppers), cicadse, etc. Also spiders. 



Distribution. — British Isles. — Very rare vagrant. One near St. 

 Michael's-on-Wyre (Lanes.) autumn, about 1860 (Saunders, p. 553). 

 Female near Navan (Meath) Aug. 1, 1899 (E. Williams, Irish Nat., 

 1899, p. 233). Female out of flock of six, Eomney Marsh (Kent), 

 May 3, 1907 (C. B. Ticehurst, Bull B.O.C., xix, p. 85). Four 

 (another said to have escaped) near Winchelsea (Sussex), May 

 25-27, 1910 (A. F. Griffith, op. c, xxvii, p. 28 ; cf. Brit. B., i, p. 57, 

 ii, p. 150, iv, p. 256). Three near same place May 9, 11 and 18, 1914 

 (J. B. Nichols, Brit. B., ix, p. 156). 



Distribution. — Abroad. — Breeds from south Russian steppes to 

 Turkestan, the Altai and west Siberia, south in winter to north- 

 east Africa and India. Casual in Poland, Greece, Hungary, Italy, 

 south France, and near Cadiz. 



Genus VANELLUS Briss. 



Vanellus Brisson, On., i, p. 48 (1760 — Type according to v, p. 94, by 

 tautonymy Tringa vanellus L.). 



Differs in all plumages (except down) from all other British 

 genera by long occipital crest. Bill shorter than head, straight, 

 hind toe present, small. Wing very broad, see under species. Only 

 1 species. 



VANELLUS VANELLUS 



384. Vanellus vanellus (L.)— THE LAPWING. 



Tringa Vanellus Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. x, i, p. 148 (1758 — Europe, 



Africa. Restricted typical locality : Sweden). 



Vanellus vulgaris Bechstein, Yarrell, in, p. 283 ; Saunders, p. 555. 



Description. — Adult male. Winter. — Fore-head brown -black, 

 feathers faintly edged light buff ; crown and crest black, crown 

 with brownish tinge and glossed green ; light buff eye -stripe, with 

 some black spots and marks, extends from base of bill over and 

 beyond eye to nape encircling hinder crown ; rest of nape ash-brown 

 tinged green ; mantle metallic -green, feathers with faint sub- 

 terminal brownish edgings and mostly tipped warm buff ; scapulars 

 same but with broader warm buff edges and some varied with 

 magenta ; lower scapulars brown-black tinged green ; centre of 

 back and rump dark ash-brown tinged green especially where rump 

 borders upper tail-coverts, sides of back and rump white ; upper 

 tail-coverts auburn ; in front of eye a small black patch widening 

 out below eye and forming an irregular black patch on cheeks 

 (feathers with white bases often imperfectly concealed) from which 

 a black band passes across ear-coverts ; line below eye and region 

 immediately behind eye white (sometimes marked black and washed 

 warm buff towards nape) ; rest of cheeks and sides of neck white, 

 vol. 11. 2 n 



