Did you do it ?? 

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During the summer month ,when ground temperature shoot up.

Lapwing indulge in a behaviour called Belly  soaking.

This squat for nearly 10 minutes in a water body.

Letting their especially evolved belly feather absorb plenty of moisture. When they return to their nest this absorbed moisture bring down their body temperature cools there egg or if those are hatched, provides drinking water for the hatchlings.

Lapwing chicks are quick to develop and in a few days after hatching leave the safety of their nest to follow their parents around.

The red wattled lapwing belong to a family of birds called plovers .

It is commonly seen throughout India in fields open countryside and clearing in cities and villages. Lapwings Nest is just a scrape or depression on open ground, line with mud or cow dung .the bird lays three or four eggs at a time they are ground birds that are in capable of perching there characteristic. loud alarm call are indicators of human or animal movement and the sound have been variously rentered as 

did he do it? 

 pity do it.

or did you do it?

Adults near the nest fly around diving at potential predators while calling noisely.

The cryptically patterned

Chicks hatched and immediately follow their parents to feed, hiding by laying low on the ground or in the grass when threatened.

When I was a little girl 7 or 8 years old. I heard a story about lapwing.

 When we were kids we used to call lapwings as

"Titahari or titri". 

Small childrens talk to each other and then they also give information to each other. Those who consider themselves the most intelligent among friends used to give some information to their friends. Pinku was one such sensible friend of ours. One day when we friends  talking together as friends.

 Pinku ask us that "you know how much rain is going to happen this year".

We said, no ; do you know? How much rain is going to happen this year.

Yes, Pinku said; I can tell .

He said that the white round marks on the nails of a finger give us clue by counting the number of mark on the nails you can tell how many month it is going to rain.

We all started laughing after hearing that.

Oh Come on ,don't say nonsense.

Pinku says all this my nani (Grandma) told me. nana- nani lives in the village. 

Okay! so how do you know ?how much it will rain?

As many round white balls are there on the nails, titri will lay as many eggs in the field. and so many months it will rain.

Strange? but we all friends believed pinku's saying. He show his nails, there were 3 white round mark. 

Oh yes, you are right. my God! 

After dinner we all went to grant father place and ask them how it is known from titri's egg? 

How much will it rain?

Then grandpa told a story.

 in the olden time the people of village and countryside used to find out by looking the titri's eggs. If titri lays 4eggs it means it will rains for 4 months and if the titri lays 2 egg then it means that it will rain for 2 months. 

Tetri's pairs incubate the eggs alternately .when it gets to hot in the summer season. the titri goes to the ponds and wet its belly feathers and cools the egg and if the chicks have come out of the eggs then the water becomes useful for drinking. Titri pretends to die after seeing the danger . titri chicks are also mimicks like their parents. they also act very well to die.

 their chicks are afraid that the sky will fall on them, so they sleep with their feet raised up towards the sky.

 it was said that titri really use 'Paras patthar' (a precious stone) to break or crack their eggs. that's why  many people use to find titri eggs to get' Paras pathar'.

Titri lays her egg on the ground. if for some reason her eggs breaks or the chicks die.

 then they begins said and titri flies in the sky screaming loudly and ask everyone

 did you do this?

 did you do this ?

or pity ,do this?.

Can it really be told how many month it will rain by counting the eggs of titri?

even today people in rural area detect rain in this way. 

Do people still believe that titri use a Paras pathar (precious stone) to crack their eggs?

Does titri really sleep with her legs up, to stop the sky to falls upon them?

 does titri really make noise for ask who broke my eggs?

God knows!

But the effect of all these story heard in childhood is that even today when I hear the sound of titri flying in the sky I get scared thinking whether someone has broken the titri's eggs??

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