LAPWING.
Bill short, slender, straight, compressed, tip tumid ; nostrils lateral, and longitudinally cleft ; legs slender, with three toes before and one behind, the middle fore one con nected with the outer by a short membrane, and the hind almost obliterated, or very short, and elevated, not touch ing the ground ; wings elongated. In some of the fo reign species, the base of the wing is armed with a long and sharp spur ; and a few are ornamented with wattles and a crest. The two indigenous kinds undergo a double moult, and, like other vermivorous birds in this country, are migrants. The plumage of both sexes is the same.
V. cristatus, Meyer, Tern. Tringa vanellus, Lin. Ste. Vanellus gavia, Leach. Crested Lapwing, Lapwing-, or Bastard Plover, Prov. Pewit, or Green Plover. Green gold above, white beneath, breast black, occipital feathers elongated into a crest, the ten middle tail feathers, from the base to the centre, white, the outer entirely white ; feet red. A foot and a half long, two feet four inches in extent of wing, between smen and eight ounces in weight, and about the size of a pigeon. In different parts of Scot land it is called whaap, teewhaap, teewit, peeseweep, &c. from its querulous call ; but the male, in the breeding sea son, has another and a more cheerful note, which, when lie feels secure, he utters with great briskness ; but, when alarmed, he pours forth the same wailing cry as the fe male.
The species has been traced as far north as Kaints chatka, where October is called the month of lapwing's. Pallas met with it in a great portion of northern Asia, Sonnini in the marshes of Egypt, and other travellers in China and Persia. It is very common in Holland ; and in this country it frequents the damp shores of lakes and rivers, as also fens, moist fields, and heaths. From the extent and great muscularity of its wings, it is capable of sustaining long flights, and of moving in the air with ra pidity and ease. Lapwings may sometimes be seen in flocks, nearly covering low marshy grounds, in quest of worms, and drawing them, with great dexterity, from their holes. When they meet with a cast, they first gently re move it from the hole, then strike the soil at the side with their feet, and steadily and attentively await the re sult, while the worm, roused by the shock, emerges from its retreat, and is instantly seized. In the evening they pursue a different plan ; for they then run along the grass, feeling the worms as they come forth to enjoy the cool ness of the air, and thus obtaining a plentiful repast, after which they wash their bill and feet in the small pools or rivulets. " I have seen this bird approach a worm cast," says Dr. Latham, " turn it aside, and. after making two or three turns about, by way of giving motion to the ground, the worm came out, and the watchful bird, seizing hold of it, drew it forth." In France, and some other coun tries, the great body of lapwings is migratory; but with us most of them seem to remain the whole year, congre gating in large flocks in autumn. In spring the pairing commences, which is preceded by fierce contests among the males. On dry ground, though usually near some marsh, the female prepares a little bed of grass, on which she lays four olive-coloured eggs, spotted with black, with their narrow ends in contact, so as to occupy little room. On these she sits about twenty days; and the young are able to run within two or three days after they are hatch ed, though they are incapable of flying till they are nearly full grown. The parent shows them the greatest attach ment, and practises her wiles to allure boys and dogs from their retreat ; for she does not wait the arrival of intru ders at the nest, but boldly sallies out to meet them.
When as near them as she can venture with safety, she rises from the ground with a loud screaming voice, as if just flushed from hatching, though possibly not within a hundred yards of her nest. She now flies with great cla mour and apparent anxiety, whirring and screaming round the disturbers of her peace, striking at them with her wings, and sometimes fluttering as if wounded. To com plete the deception, she becomes still more clamorous as she recedes from the nest. If very near it, she appears to be altogether unconcerned ; and her cries subside in proportion as her fears increase. When approached by dogs, she flies heavily at a little distance before them, as if maimed, still bold and vociferous, but never moving towards the quarter where her young are stationed. The dogs pursue, expecting, no doubt, every moment to lay hold of her, and thus actually lose the young ; for the cun ning bird, having thus drawn them off to a proper distance, exerts her powers, and leaves her astonished enemies to gaze at the rapidity of her flight. As another proof of the lapwing's sagacity, M. Gitrardin mentions, that it will allow an unarmed person to approach near it, whereas it instantly flies off to a distance, if it perceives a gun in one's hand. Notwithstanding its natural shyness, it is ca pable of acquiring a considerable degree of familiarity in confinement; and it is sometimes kept in gardens for the purpose of ridding them of worms, slugs, and insects. In winter, where this description of food is liable to fail, it should be fed with bread or raw minced meat. Mr. Be wick relates, that two lapwings were given to a clergy man, who put them into his garden. One soon died, but the other continued to pick up such food as the place af forded, till winter deprived it of its usual supplies. Ne cessity soon compelled it to draw near the house, so that it gradually became familiarized with occasional interrup tions from the inmates. At length one of the maid-ser vants, when she had occasion to go into the back-kitchen with a light, remarked that the lapwing always uttered his cry of peewit. to obtain admittance. He soon grew more intimate, and, as the winter advanced, he ventured so far as the kitchen, though with much caution, as that part of the house was generally occupied by a dog and a cat, whose friendship, however, he finally so entirely concili ated, that he regularly resorted to the fire-side, as soon as it grew dark, and passed the evening and all the night with his new acquaintances, sitting close by them, and partaking of the comfortable warmth. With the return of spring, however, he discontinued his visits, and betook himself entirely to the garden ; but on the approach of winter he rejoined his old associates, who gave him a most cordial reception. At last he frequently used the freedom of washing himself in the bowl which was set for the dog to drink out of, and, while thus employed, he betrayed marks of the greatest impatience, if either of his compa nions presumed to interrupt him. He died in conse quence of being choaked with something which he had picked up from the floor.
As lapwings are reckoned dainty food, many of them are captured for the table ; their eggs, too, are esteemed a delicacy, and are frequently brought to the London mar ket, where they fetch a high price.