"Once in a while, someone tells me that he or she has seen a large flock of Lapwings. It usually turns out that there were at most 1,000, but more often 200-300. Fifty years ago, I used to watch Lapwings passing the schoolroom window. My memory is of flocks taking minutes to straggle past. It may have been only one minute, but it was long enough to invite caustic comments from the blackboard."