MOORLAND BIRDS IN AUGUST 177 



upwards. Once on August 12th, I found a whole brood 

 just emerged from the shell ; and one frequently sees young 

 snipes, which can only fly 30 or 40 yards. By September, 

 we certainly have birds on passage, because they come 

 in at irregular intervals, replenishing our (vanishing) 

 stock ; yet the quills of these appear insufficiently 

 developed to have enabled them to cross the North Sea. 

 These, therefore, I take to be birds bred in Scotland, 

 slowly sauntering southwards ; while the foreign con- 

 tingent do not arrive till October, leaving always a 

 distinct interval between the two movements, varying 

 according to the season, from a few days up to nearly 

 a month. Those snipes that linger here in September 

 are all old birds, still renewing their quills, the young 

 having already departed as soon as fully fledged. Very 

 hot, dry seasons are, of course, unfavourable for the 

 observation of such birds ; but, in those years, I have 

 sometimes noticed a corresponding increase in the number 

 of peewits. 



Of course, all grouse-shooters meet with the birds 

 above mentioned, together with the few wildfowl that 

 breed on the moors, such as mallard, teal, or an occasional 

 tufted duck ; but how seldom one hears of the occurrence 

 of any unexpected species. This, in the circumstances, 

 appears noteworthy. One might, for example, look for 

 the occasional occurrence of some of those ducks and 

 waders whose usual summer habitat is in northern 

 latitudes, but which have been suspected of remaining 

 occasionally to nest in the more remote parts of the 

 British Islands. Had such ever been the case, some of 

 these rarer birds might reasonably be expected to fall in 

 the way of the invading army of gunners in August, and 

 that they do not do so is strong negative evidence against 



M 



