The Lapwing occupies a wide range, extending from 61° north latitude, as far as Northern India and North Africa. In some parts of China it is as common as in Great Britain. Some writers are of opinion that this Peewit breeds in Spain, but, according to our own observations, it only appears in that land at the end of October, and leaves again to go north at the beginning of March. Radde mentions having seen it on the Amur, being particularly numerous at Tarai-Noor; strange to say, such as he observed did not remain in the vicinity of the water during the summer, but occupied dry and barren steppes throughout the whole season of incubation. In India, according to Jerdon, this species is only found in the Punjaub, where it breeds. The Peewit is especially numerous in Holland, and is generally distributed over the British Isles, except in the extreme north of Scotland and the Hebrides, everywhere occupying moorlands, downs, and swampy lands, and depositing its four eggs in a slight hollow, which is lined with a few straws or blades of grass. The eggs are pyriform, and have a pale brownish yellow or olive-coloured shell, prettily spotted and marked with brownish black. The young leave the nest as soon as they are hatched, and if alarmed, at once take refuge in the moss or grass. 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. According to Mr. Selby, the trade of collecting them continues about two months, and great expertness in the discovery of the nests is shown by those accustomed to it. They generally judge of their situation pretty accurately by the conduct of the female birds, who, upon being disturbed, invariably fly from the nest, and then run near the ground for a short distance without uttering any alarm cry. The males on the contrary are very clamorous, and fly round the intruder, endeavouring by various instinctive arts to divert his attention. So expert, says another observer, have some men become, that they will not only walk straight to a nest which may be at a considerable distance, but tell the probable number of eggs it may contain, generally judging of the situation and number of eggs by the conduct of the female bird. When the young are reared, the Lapwings associate in flocks which, at the end of autumn, exchange the higher moorlands for lower ground, and frequent the ploughed fields. When going to a distance, they fly with speed often in an irregular body, but sometimes in lines, alighting in silence after various evolutions. About the middle of March they return to higher ground, again to resume their family duties.