102 
CHANGE OF PLUMAGE. 
such a value should be placed on these eggs by the * quality.' Some 
held that the prettily-dappled shells were used in printing the fine 
dresses of the ladies ; others that the yolks were used to give a pecu- 
liar richness to the complexion ; whilst others, again, stuck stoutly 
to it that they formed a new dye for the hair. Whatever diversity 
of opinion there might be on that head, all were cordially agreed 
that it could not be the mere taste that made them so precious ; no 
one could be so extravagantly foolish as to give such a price for the 
eating of eggs so small, wlien good hen or duck eggs, double and 
treble the size, could be had for less than a third of the money. 
Few of our familiar feathered friends imdergo a more marked 
change than the Lapwing does in autumn ; if, as the poet says — 
In the spring the wanton Lapwing gets himself another crest ; 
he certainly gets another coat at the fall of the year, his glossy 
green shaded black changing to a dingy brown like that of the 
females. They now leave their solitary, semi-cultivated districts, 
and flocking together in immense numbers, become silent and 
inolFensive, drawing more and more towards the coasts as winter 
approaches. 
The rambler in the country may at this period see vast numbers 
of these birds in bare pasture lands, covering the ground at intervals 
of a yard or two. Not a cry is uttered by the whole flock, though 
now and again one will run a few yards in their peculiarly graceful 
style. As you stop to look at them every head is raised, every eye 
is watching you, till at the raising of your stick or umbrella they 
will all rise together, in a way that might serve for a model of pre- 
cision to the best drilled regiments in her Majesty's service. 
It is thus that Thomas Aird poetically describes these 
birds : — 
But, ah ! October's Aided eves ! 
Trooping down the barren shore, 
The Lapwings v/heel their veering flight 
The sandy ferry o'er and o'er, 
Now they 're black and now they 're white ; 
Hoarser brawl the wind-curled rills ; 
From out yon gap in the far hills 
The hail-blast drifting white and slow 
(How the fir- wood glooms below !) 
Seems to come on, but thin and rare, 
Disperses as it hangs in air. 
J esse, in liis ^ Gleanings/ speaks of the artifice of this 
bird, saying — ' If you go near the nest of the LapAving, 
one of the old birds will fly close to you, and try to draw 
you from their nest. I have seen my dog almost struck 
by one of the birds as she fiew past him, and they seem 
