112 PLUVIALIS M0R1XELLUS. 



of the nock, flanks, and a broad band above each eye, bnff- 

 orange, the former finely streaked with grejish-brown. 

 Breast cinereous, slightly tinged with reddish-white, and 

 marked on each side with large spots of olive-green. Belly 

 white, spotted here and there with greyish-brown. Bill 

 black. Irides dark brown. Legs pale olive-green, soles 

 bright yellow." 



The following observations I transcribe from an unpub- 

 lished Fauna of Aberdeenshire and the neighbouring coun- 

 ties ; — " This beautiful bird arrives about the middle of May 

 in the upland tracts of the counties of Forfar, Kincardine, 

 Aberdeen, Banff, and Moray, and resides there until the end 

 of September, when it migrates southward. It has been 

 met with on many of the hills of this tract through the 

 summer, and great numbers have been killed in early 

 autumn by sportsmen engaged in grouse-shooting; but its 

 nest does not appear to have been found by any person 

 interested in the habits of birds. Dr. Irving, Old Aberdeen, 

 informs me that he has shot several specimens in August 

 and September on the moors near Tarland. According to 

 Mr. G. Anderson, Inverness, as stated in Mr. Gordon's 

 Fauna of Moray, it is ' frequently killed by sportsmen in 

 Strathdearn and Badenoch.' In autumn, when it has col- 

 lected into flocks, it is excessively fat, and so little appre- 

 hensive of danger that the flocks may be easily approached. 

 Toward the end of September, they betake themselves to 

 the lower grounds, and proceed southwards. But there is 

 also a migration from more northern countries, and flocks 

 pass northward in the end of spring. At both seasons they 

 have been met with along the coast, from Montrose to 

 Fraserburgh. The Rev. Mr. Smith says : — ' The Dotterel is 

 seen almost yearly, in its progress towards the north, on the 

 links, — as they are called, — which adjoin the Loch of 

 Strathbeg. In May, 1847, I accidentally fell in with a flock 

 upon a piece of ploughed land near to the Old Castle of 

 Federret, in New Deer. I am not aware that it is seen in 

 this quarter (the parish of Monquhitter) during the autumnal 

 migration. It has been shot on a rough piece of unenclosed 

 land near Macduff.' On the 8th of August, 1851, being on 



