I 
THE LAPWING. 155 
waterings. The Lapwing, when disposed to make 
her meal, mounted one of these sods, and, standing 
on one leg, kept regularly beating the turf with the 
other. Worms, as we have already shown, in speak- 
ing of the manner in which Starlings and Thrushes 
feed upon them, are very sensitive of danger, — and 
their great enemy being the mole, no sooner do they 
perceive a vibration, or shaking motion, in the earth, 
than they make the best of their way to the surface, 
and thus fall into a greater and more certain peril, — 
for, as in the case of the Starling or Thrush, so in 
the present instance, no sooner did it make its ap- 
pearance, than the Lapwing drew it out, and, having 
disposed of it, renewed his operations, till he had 
fully satisfied himself. 
But we have another story to tell of a certain 
species of Plovers meals, far more extraordinary, 
and which we should feel great hesitation in relating 
had not the original observer of former days, been 
supported by eye-witnesses of later times. Hero- 
dotus, an old Grecian historian, asserted that there 
was a certain small bird, which, as often as the 
crocodiles came on shore from the river Nile, flew 
fearlessly within their jaws, and relieved them 
of a peculiar kind of leeches which infested their 
throats. This ancient historian added, that, al- 
though other birds invariably avoided the croco- 
dile, it never did this bird any injury. So extra- 
ordinary a story was treated as fabulous by all 
naturalists. It is, notwithstanding, strictly true, — ° 
M. Geoffry Saint Llilaire, an eminent and accurate 
French naturalist, confirms the fact beyond a 
doubt. The bird alluded to is the Egyptian Plover 
