240 PROCEEDINGS OF THE 



round and round us, here and there picking at the flies, or 

 pretending to do so, or watcliing us from a hummock of moss. 



There were the three eggs, lying in a shallow saucer-like 

 depression in the deep moss, close to a small grey stone, behind 

 which Feilden had seen her lie down. There was no lininsj 

 to the nest whatever; it was simply a shallow hollow, ])ressed 

 down (not scraped) by the bird, and the eggs lay points inwards. 



Feilden had seen the bird run from the nest, or from its vicinity, 

 and had remained and watched. At my suggestion he had come 

 up over the crest of the ridge instead of going down from the top. 

 The bird came running from one direction, and then, as she had 

 done when I watched, ran down the hill in another. The second 

 time, she came from a diff'erent direction, repeating the manoeuvres 

 I have endeavoured to describe ; but the third time, Feilden 

 marked her sneak on to the nest, head down, and saw her 

 gradually settle. He gave her five minutes, to make certain, 

 and then walked straight for the little grey stone, keeping his 

 eyes firmly fixed upon it. When he was within six feet of the 

 bird she was still indistinguishable from the surrounding moss, 

 and it was only when she was at last forced to rise that he 

 discovered her. It was six o'clock when the nest was discovered, 

 and seven o'clock when we left the mountain. Feilden carefully 

 packed the eggs in his hat, which he carried in his hand, and I 

 brought away a square of the moss containing the nest, having 

 cut it carefully out with my knife. 



I heard the Dotterell's cry, well and repeatedly, to-day, and 

 recognised it as the same that I had heard the day previously on 

 another mountain, which I now feel convinced holds another pair. 



I have, in this paper, confined myself to giving a statement of 

 the day's proceedings and search for the eggs, which I have now 

 the pleasure of exhibiting to the Society ; and I have dwelt at 

 considerable length on the habits of the bird, as observed by us. 

 I would have had some hesitation in taking up so much of your 

 time in this way, had the nesting habits of this rare bird been as 

 generally known as those of others of our rarer species; but when 

 I state that no published account of its nesting habits in Great 

 Britain has appeared since 1835, I hope you will kindly overlook 

 the length of my remarks. I might easily add to the paper, by 

 giving a short sketch of the present distribution of the Dot- 

 terell in Scotland, together with some account of the autumn 



