NOTES ON THE BREEDING HABITS OF THE DOTTEREL 185 



NOTES ON THE BREEDING HABITS OF THE 

 DOTTEREL {EUDROMIAS MORINELLUS) IN 

 SCOTLAND. 



By G. G. Blackwood. 



As the Dotterel is a bird which comparatively few orni- 

 thologists have an opportunity of watching, it may be of 

 interest to some if I give my experiences of this rare wader 

 which, prior to the War, I watched for many hours during 

 several successive seasons. There are, unfortunately, still 

 many points, some of primary interest, regarding which I 

 am not satisfied, but my observations, so far as they have 

 gone, may make a starting point for further investigation. 

 In any case, as I have now, owing to the intervention of the 

 War and other causes, little chance of completing my notes 

 in the near future, I think it well to put them on record for 

 the use of others. 



It was my good fortune to be able to take a portion of 

 my annual holidays early in June, and to have opportunities 

 during the summer of occasional long week-ends which 

 with the aid of a sleeping bag, enabled me to get far-a-field 

 among the mountains of Scotland. On one of these week- 

 end excursions in July 1906 I first saw the Dotterel in its 

 breeding haunts. 



One event stands out pre-eminently among my recollec- 

 tions of a notable day devoted primarily to rare alpine flora 

 the sight of three Dotterel which rose from the plateau about 

 20 yards from us and which, within three seconds, had 

 disappeared over the crest. Even in this fleeting glance 

 there was no doubt as to their identity, and I was particularly 

 pleased to see them in a locality where I had never before 

 had even a hint of their presence. 



Years later, in June 191 3, my > ounger brother and I had 



the pleasure of watching a pair which undoubtedly had a nest 



at the very spot on which I first made the birds' acquaintance. 



We did not find that nest, but had earlier in the day found 



107 AND 108 X 



