776 
BIRD-LIFE. 
the search in a systematic manner, guided by former 
experience. The eggs, four in number, are very large in 
comparison with the size of the bird, and larger than 
those of the common Lapwing or Peewit. They are 
smooth, and very pointed at the small end; the ground 
is of a dull olive-yellow, speckled and blotched with 
reddish brown spots, which form a thick belt round the 
large end. The eggs are always deposited in the nest, 
with all the pointed ends laid together towards the 
centre, and are hatched in from sixteen to seventeen 
days, the female leaving them exposed to the heat of the 
sun when opportunity offers. The parti-coloured, downy 
youngsters are led from, and reared outside of, the nest, 
by the parents, as soon as they have become dried. 
The strategems made use of by the mother, when 
seeking to preserve her brood from the clutches of an 
enemy, are truly touching. When sitting she never rises 
from the nest itself, but always runs for some distance in 
a crouching posture before she ventures to take wing, 
while the male flies close round the intruder, and tries 
in every possible way to draw off his attention. Both 
the old birds show the greatest apparent distress, and are 
excessively bold, dashing down, like the Peewit, even at 
human beings. When the young are first hatched one 
has a much better opportunity of observing the different 
artifices by which the parents seek to preserve them 
from harm. I never, but on one occasion, could bring 
myself to rob a Plover of her young, for the heart¬ 
breaking concern evinced by the parent birds always 
moved me to pity on their account. As soon as one 
approaches the brood, the mother may be seen in a 
crouching attitude with pendant wings, as she runs 
staggering along a few steps in front of you: she acts as 
