Lapwing

“ Both parents exhibit great affection and anxiety for their young, and should a stranger venture to approach the nest, fly around him, and use every endeavour to lure him from the spot, sometimes running as if lame, or fluttering as though with a broken wing to tempt pursuit; nevertheless, in spite of all her arts, the Lapwing's nest is frequently rifled, and numbers of eggs are sent to the London market. ”

“ There are others, however, which are more readily observed, whilst their life-histories afford just as clear an insight into the effect produced by the new disposition upon the developing situation; and among these the Lapwing takes a prominent position, because it is plentiful and inhabits open ground where it is easily kept in view. ”

“ The bird in question is the spur-winged lapwing, and the following is Mr Hudson's account of its performances:—
"If a person watches any two birds for some time—for they live in pairs—he will see another lapwing, one of a neighbouring couple, rise up and fly to them, leaving his own mate to guard their chosen ground ”

“ The Lapwing, despite the netting, egging, and shooting that it has to contend with, holds its own well in most places: this I attribute to their wonderful adaptability to circumstances. I find their nests equally on the highest fells, in the marshy plains, on the moorlands, and amidst enclosed ground, and no matter how their eggs are taken, in a very short time they are laying again. ”

“ For instance, half a dozen or more Lapwings can be kept in view at the same time, and as they stand at dawn in solitary state, keeping watch upon their respective territories, they are conspicuous objects on the short, frosted grass; no stranger can enter the arena without the observer being aware of it, no commotion can occur but one detects it, no movement however small need be missed. ”

“ In the ypecaha and jacana displays both sexes take part. A stranger performance is that of the spur-winged lapwing of the same region--a species resembling the lapwing of Europe, but a third larger, brighter coloured, and armed with spurs. The lapwing display, called by the natives its "dance," or "serious dance"--by which they mean square dance--requires three birds for its performance, and is, so far as I know, unique in this respect. The birds are so fond of it that they indulge in it all the year round, and at frequent intervals during the day, also on moonlight nights. ”

“ In appearance and taste they were precisely like our lapwings' eggs, only larger, the Argentine lapwing being a bigger bird than its European cousin. In those distant days the birds were excessively abundant all over the pampas where sheep were pastured, for at that time there were few to shoot wild birds and nobody ever thought of killing a lapwing for the table. ”

“ Conspicuous as the strongly contrasted colours of its plumage and its very peculiar flight make it, it is remarkable that it maintains its ground when so many of its allies have been almost exterminated, for the lapwing is the object perhaps of greater persecution than any other European bird that is not a plunderer. Its eggs are the well-known “plovers’ eggs” of commerce, [2] and the bird, wary and wild at other times of the year, in the breeding-season becomes easily approachable, and is shot to be sold in the markets for “golden plover.” ”

“ Yet to suppose that every individual one sees or hears—every Lapwing on the meadow, or Nightingale in the withy bed—is in that particular spot just because it happens to alight there as it roams from place to place, is to take a view which the observed facts do not support. ”

“ Disappearance of the Lapwing in North Lincolnshire.—This bird (Vanellus vulgaris) has practically disappeared as a resident species; each year they have got scarcer, and at the present time I do not think there is a single pair nesting in the parish or neighbourhood. Not many years since a pair or two might be found in almost every field, and a considerable number of young were hatched and got away. ”

“ When the Lapwing wants to procure food, it seeks for a worm's cast, and stamps the ground by the side of it with his feet; somewhat in the manner we have often done when a boy, in order to procure worms for fishing. After doing this for a short time, the bird waits for the issue of the worm from the hole, who, alarmed at the shaking of the ground, endeavours to make its escape, when he is immediately seized, and becomes the prey of this ingenious bird. ”

“ Many of them leave us towards winter. This is another species which endeavours to mislead you when searching for its eggs. Of all our field and heath birds, the lapwing is one of the most useful in destroying destructive insects, such as Zabrus gibbus, etc. ”

“ In seeking to explain such performances as those of the spur-winged lapwing in this latter way, one must assume the number of three birds to have originated in accordance with general principles, and that first there has been a real courtship of the female bird by two males, the antics proper to which have, at last, become stereotyped into a formal dance or display. ”

“ Like the Lapwing, they live in moist places and in numerous flocks; like them, they feed on worms, which they catch much in the same way; like them, too, they make frequent ablutions; finally, they are always close neighbours, and unite in migration. But they do not follow out the resemblance with the Lapwings so far as to imitate them in behaving as good fathers of families, and in living as good citizens with one wife chosen once for all. Plovers understand life in quite another fashion; they have other aspirations and other desires ”

“ The Lapwing might be ranked amongst the most useful auxiliaries of man; it destroys a prodigious quantity of worms, caterpillars, and noxious insects. After hearing this the reader might, perhaps, imagine that this bird has found aid and protection 378 from mankind. Nothing of the sort; it is killed wherever and as often as possible; besides this, means are discovered to set a limit upon its multiplication by stealing away its eggs. We do not seem to perceive that this joyous, lively, and graceful bird longs to conclude a treaty of friendship with mankind. ”

“ The third bird, who is obviously the female, either stands or walks at a short distance from the two pipers, who will frequently follow and press upon her, and then, though the march is not quite so formal and regular, it yet bears for a few moments a considerable resemblance to that of the spur-winged lapwing, as described and figured in Mr Hudson's work. ”

“ The favourite marine haunts of the “Green Plover,” or Peewit, as this bird is otherwise called, are rough saltings, mud-flats, and slob-lands; sands and shingles it rarely visits unless when driven to do so by heavy snowfalls; and at all times it prefers ground overgrown with herbage to the bare beaches. As this species presents little difference between summer and winter plumage, means for concealment may have some influence in its choice of haunt. When standing or running on the ground the Lapwing is a very ordinary looking bird ”

“ Often, when some one happens to find a hen lapwing sitting on her eggs, she will pretend to be wounded, and will flap and tumble along the ground in the hope of making the intruder chase her, and so of leading him away from her nest. ”

“ It is said that home-bred lapwings are somewhat sedentary, and that the large winter flocks are composed of Continental immigrants. The frequent westward migration of lapwings during exceptionally severe winter weather has led to the supposition that these birds fly for refuge, under these circumstances, to Ireland. This is true, so far as it goes, but a lapwing marked as a nestling near Stirling has been found in the south of France, and two others in Portugal, whilst five have been recovered in Ireland. ”

“ Now, too, one may approach near enough to them to notice the winnowing movement of their wings, which has given them the name of Lapwing in England and Vanneau in France (from van, a fan) . The young are able to run as soon as they have burst the shell, and follow their parents to damp ground, where worms, slugs, and insects are most abundant. When the young have acquired the use of their wings, the families of a district unite into flocks. They are then very wary, and can rarely be approached without difficulty; but as they are considered good eating, many of them fall before the fowler. ”

“ Whenever there was a feast or71 an important funeral the lapwings and their friends walked in the place of honor, before the eagles and the peafowls, leaving far behind them the humming-bird (that living flower) , the linnet, and the nightingale.
But, unfortunately, it happened one day that a lapwing came too near the abode of man, and a hunter saw it and killed it.
"What is this?" exclaimed the sportsman, perceiving the golden crown. Seizing it, he ran quickly to the jeweller's.
"Worker in metals!" said he, "see this marvellous diadem the lapwing carries! Of what metal is it made?" ”

“ Who does [68] not know the sad mewing cries and the restless uneven flight of this Plover, as it rises startled from the ground and commences its plaintive protest against our intrusion? Large numbers of Lapwings breed on the North Derbyshire and South Yorkshire moorlands, as well as on the rough grounds in their vicinity. ”

“ At night the flocks appeared to split up, the birds going off in twos and threes to the "parks." Round the margin of the loch they associated with the Green Plover, and to a smaller degree with the Gulls.
Lapwing (Vanellus vulgaris) .—Very common; they are never shot at, and are consequently very tame.
Ringed Plover (Ægialitis hiaticula) .—These delightful little birds were extremely numerous, and very tame. They were always to be seen feeding along the ebb in lots of a few individuals up to quite large flocks, very often associating with the Turnstones and Golden Plover. ”

“ The long legged plover and the sanderling are waders, and belong more immediately to the water birds, to which we refer them; the great plover and the lapwing we consider as entirely connected with birds of the plover kind ”

“ In both these quotations the reference seems to be to a practice of training quails to fight after the manner of cock-fighting.
The allusions to the LAPWING indicate that the dramatist was acquainted with some of the characteristics of the bird. The tactics of the male bird to entice a passer-by away from his nest are expressed in the line
Far from her nest the lapwing cries away. [129]
When the plot is laid to get Beatrice to accept Benedick as her lover, and the plotters see her “couched in the woodbine coverture,” Hero urges:
Now begin ”

“ March.
30th.—One Lapwing, one Grey Plover, one Little Grebe, two Larks, one Fieldfare, and several Chaffinches struck and were killed. Wind W.N.W., overcast, and drizzling rain.
April.
18th.—The Ringed Plovers are breeding; several nests have from one to two eggs. ”

“ This mistake has no doubt arisen from the fact that it frequently occupies the sandbanks on which these monsters repose, and is often seen running fearlessly over and about their huge bodies. Like the rest of their brethren, these Lapwings render themselves most obnoxious to the naturalist or sportsman, by the pertinacity with which they warn all their companions of the approach of danger, and by thus constantly annoying him, destroy the impression of pleasure that the grace and ease of their movements would otherwise excite. ”

“ Lapwings, when at a set time they come to the Northern Countries from other parts, they foreshew the nearnesse of the Spring coming on. It is a Bird that is full of crying and lamentation, to preserve her Eggs, or young. ”

“ At this period, or during incubation, the parents, who sit alternately on the eggs, never leaving them to the heat of the sun, are extremely clamorous at sight of an enemy. The female droops her wings, emits her plaintive notes, and endeavours by every means she can devise to draw you from 194 the nest or young. The male dashes over you in the air, in the manner of the European Lapwing, and vociferates all the remonstrances of an angry parent whose family is endangered. If you cannot find pity for the poor birds at such a time, you may take up their eggs and see their distress ”

“ These birds have spread, and their requirements necessitating more ground than formerly have brought about the strife with Lapwings. The Partridges are bold, and resist successfully the onslaughts of the Lapwings, which are made on wing, and on the Partridges while moving on the ground. ”

“ They associate in flocks during the winter-time, and are caught, by nets, in the same manner as ruffs (177) , but are killed as soon as they are caught. Lapwings are in considerable demand by the London poulterers, particularly about the month of October, when they are fat and excellent eating. Their eggs, which are olive-coloured spotted with black, are esteemed a peculiar delicacy during the whole season in which they can be obtained.
Lapwings feed chiefly on worms, and the females lay each two eggs on the ground, in some hollow place, on the dry parts of marshes. ”

“ These two chicks we pocketed for specimens, but we were so touched by the way the old Lapwings followed us over the moor crying so plaintively that more humane feelings got the better of us, and we returned to the spot and placed both young birds where we had found them. Such little episodes as these go so far, we always think, in making ornithology so very attractive. ”

“ It is notorious that in olden days the great majority of writers on Ornithology were wholly at fault in the conclusions they had formed on the point at issue. Even Seebohm, whose loss we all so deeply deplore, was prompted to write that the old bird, having glided stealthily off the nest, rose in the air, "to flutter recklessly above the intruder's head." Only a few years ago, through my initiation, the nesting habits of the Lapwing were made the subject of an interesting correspondence in the 'Field.' Mr. ”