THE MAGAZINE 



OF 



NATURAL HISTORY 



JUNE, 1838. 



Art. I. Some Observations on the Habits of the Dottrel, (Cha- 

 radrius Morinellm, Linn J made in Cumberland, during the Sum- 

 mer of 1835. By T. C. Heysham, Esq. 



Previous to the publication of Mr. Selby's ' Illustrations of 

 British Ornithology,' so many authors of undoubted talent 

 and veracity had stated that the dottrel was not only a regu- 

 lar summer visitant, but annually resorted to various districts 

 in the northern counties of England and the Highlands of 

 Scotland to breed, that I am altogether at a loss to conjecture 

 on what grounds a naturalist of Mr. Selby's ability and re- 

 search could deliberately assert that this bird is merely a cur- 

 sory visitant in this country, during its migration to and from 

 its breeding quarters in the northern latitudes, as well as that 

 the eggs of this species have never yet been found, with this 

 exception, that he was never able to meet with either during 

 the season of incubation, in his various excursions to the Che- 

 viot hills and the Highlands of Scotland. 



In order, however, that the reader of this paper may be bet- 

 ter able to form an opinion on this question, I shall, in the 

 first place, give a few extracts from the different authors who 

 have written on the subject, (some of their works having be- 

 come exceedingly scarce, and consequently very difficult to 

 procure), then transcribe the whole of Mr. Selby's article, and 

 conclude with a few remarks on the habits of this bird during 

 the breeding season, the result of my own observation, which 

 I am confident will convince the most sceptical on this point, 

 that the dottrel is not only a regular summer visitaift, but an- 

 nually breeds on the mountains which contribute so materi- 

 ally to the grandeur and magnificence of some of the most 



Vol. II.— No. 18. n. s. c c 



