i64 LOST AND VANISHING BIRDS 



— but sparingly on the European side, — and is an 

 occasional visitor to the Canaries. 



The Dotterel is a late migrant, not reaching its 

 British haunts before the end of April or early in 

 May, whilst the return passage extends normally 

 over September and October. This species is not 

 a dweller on the coasts, but loves the inland 

 pastures, sheep walks, and bare mountain slopes. 

 It is certainly a social bird, not only on migration 

 but at its breeding haunts, and becomes even more 

 so after the young are reared. All observers agree 

 as to its exceptional tameness, this trustfulness 

 having gained for it the name of " foolish " Dotterel. 

 Its flight is rapid and powerful ; but the bird spends 

 most of its time upon the ground, running about in 

 quest of food. This consists of insects, worms, 

 grubs, snails, and the buds and shoots of plants. 

 Its call-note is a plaintive dilt variously modulated, 

 and in the pairing season is prolonged into a kind 

 of trill. In the British Islands the eggs of the 

 Dotterel are laid towards the end of May or early 

 in June. The nest is a mere hollow in the moss 

 or grass on the uplands. The eggs are three in 

 number, varying from yellowish olive to pale buff, 

 richly blotched and spotted with dark brown, 

 paler brown, and grey. The male — in this species 



