igo THE SCOTTISH NATURALIST 



on the bird's idiosyncrasies. It would be ridiculous to 

 attempt to write a life history based on observations at only 

 one nest. 



I have, on several years, found a nest within a very small 

 radius of a particular spot on a south-east exposure. On 

 each occasion the bird left the nest when I was still a long 

 way off, even when the eggs were on the point of hatching. 

 The markings on the eggs, too, were each year of a similar 

 type. I am quite certain that it was the same bird which 

 nested there each year, and I could safely count on seeing 

 Dotterel at this place any day in the breeding season, 

 provided it was not too cold or too windy. The weather, 

 however, is a most important factor, and on a cold and 

 windy day I have traversed a plateau without seeing the 

 least sign of Dotterel, while on the same plateau on a warm 

 sunny day there were quite a number. This applies even 

 when the young have been hatched. 



Eggs are laid late in May, but more commonly in the 

 first half of June, and as already stated they may even be 

 found towards the end of July. They vary considerably in 

 their markings and shape. The nest is invariably a shallow, 

 cup-shaped depression, and is usually within two or three 

 hundred yards of the top of some mossy plateau, but I have 

 found Dotterels breeding on the same hill at altitudes 

 varying by as much as six hundred feet. There is sometimes 

 a very thin lining of lichen in the nest, but I think it may be 

 casual. I have never checked the period of incubation. The 

 young run soon after they are hatched, and the attendant 

 parent shows extraordinary devotion. 



The Coronation holiday in 1911 afforded one of the most 

 wonderful times I ever had among the Dotterel. I had slept 

 far out into the hills with my friend Dr A. M, Stewart, and 

 we were early on the higher ground on Friday, 23rd June. 

 The following day Dr Stewart returned to the same plateau, 

 and Mr A. H. Evans, who had joined us, accompanied me on 

 different ground, where again we saw Dotterel. As during 

 these two days we found one nest with eggs, and saw several 

 young, I think that I cannot do better than to quote 

 practically verbatim from my notes. On the first day we 



