144 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



banks are flooded the birds will repair to the marshes or fields, 

 and after a few evolutions settle to rest or hunt for insects. 

 All will stand, head to wind, bobbing frequently, but if the wind 

 is high, the nearest birds constantly rise, flutter over their com- 

 panions and drop behind for shelter, so that the whole party 

 slowly shifts down-wind. 



The marine food is similar to that of all small waders, but 

 when nesting, and halting inland on migration, insects are 

 largely eaten. To the meres, reservoirs on the hills, and sewage 

 farms the bird is a frequent visitor in winter as well as on 

 passage ; it paddles in the settling tanks, finding an abundance 

 of dipterous larvae, and often remaining many days. On the 

 coast it feeds with the rising and falling tide, by night as well 

 as by day, sleeping at high water or at irregular intervals. 



The Dunlin nests on the high moors, often at 2000 feet or 

 more, but also on low marshes and saltings at sea-level, even 

 in the vicinity of busy Lancashire towns. On the moors I have 

 watched the bird soaring and swooping like a Snipe, and 

 listened to its nuptial trill, mingled with the clatter of clogs and 

 rattle of looms in the valley a few hundred feet below. The 

 breeding call — dwee, dwee — is quite distinct from the purr of 

 alarm when the bird is put off the nest. The nest (Plate 58) 

 is a neat cup of grass, about three inches in diameter, often well 

 hidden in ling or moorland grass, but at times barely screened. 

 The four eggs (Plate 44) arc variable in ground and markings, 

 generally brown or yellow, sometimes green, with brown, sepia, 

 and grey blotches, as a rule thickest at the larger end and often 

 more or less oblique ; they are laid in May or June. The 

 nestling has rich buff or chestnut down, marbled with black and 

 flecked with white; its under parts are almost white. 



In summer the adult bird is reddish brown mottled with 

 black on the upper parts; the wings and some of the coverts 

 ashy grey, and the upper breast greyish white and striated. 

 The lower breast and part of the abdomen are black, the size 



