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THE COMMON LAPWING, PLOVER, OR PEEWIT 



Vanellus cristatus (vulgaris). 



This bird is familiar to most persons in Great Britain and 

 Ireland, being found in every county. It breeds in marshes, 

 moors, meadows, and fallows, and is seen in large flocks in 

 the autumn and winter, but in the breeding season the flocks 

 are not nearly so large as at other times of the year. In 

 the adult bird the beak, crown of the head, and the tuft 

 are black ; the back and wing coverts are also black, 

 tinged with purple and copper-colour ; the lower part of the 

 breast and the belly are white, and the claws are black. 



The nest of the lapwing or peewit is a mere hole or depres- 

 sion in the surface of the ground, either in grass land or arable 



