DUNLIN" 219 



rare to find the two shades of brown in the same egg, as is often the case with 

 G. gallinago. The markings are very varied, some eggs dusted all over with tiny 

 specks, others with specks and fair-sized spots, and again others with great 

 blotches of color, chiefly at the larger end. The pattern markings on the eggs 

 of the same set are often very dissimilar. Many of the eggs of this species 

 show the spiral arrangement of the spots. The eggs are very glossy, and on 

 this account have a brighter appearance than eggs of G. gallinago. I have 

 only one set entirely without gloss. 



The number of eggs is normally four, occasionally only three, 

 and as many as five and even six have been found in a nest. The 

 measurements of 100 eggs, furnished by Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain, 

 average 34.3 by 24.4 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes 

 measure 38.3 by 25.4, 35 by 25.8, 31.3 by 23.2, and 32 by 23 milli- 

 meters. 



Young. — Incubation is shared by both sexes and requires 22 days. 

 Macgillivray (1852) says of the young: 



Like those of the golden plover and lapwing, they leave the nest immediately 

 after exclusion from the egg, run about, and when alarmed conceal themselves 

 by sitting close to the ground and remaining motionless. If at this period a 

 person approaches their retreat, the male especially, but frequently the female 

 also, flies up to meet the intruder and uses the same artifices for deceiving him 

 as many other birds of this family. After they are able to shift for themselves 

 the young remain several weeks on the moors with their parents, both collect- 

 ing into small flocks, which are often intermingled with those of the golden 

 plover, and often in the evenings uniting into larger. They rest at night on 

 the smoother parts of the heath, and both species, when resting by day, either 

 stand or lie on the ground. When one advances within a hundred yards of 

 such a flock it is pleasant to see them stretch up their wings, as if preparing 

 for flight, utter a few low notes, and immediately stand on the alert, or run 

 a short way ; but at this season they are not at all shy. 



Seton Gordon (1915), after giving a charming account of the 

 breeding haunts of the dunlin in Scotland, has this to say about the 

 solicitude of a devoted mother. 



It was about this time that I saw the hen in precisely the same locality as 

 before. She showed much more anxiety than the cock, uttering almost inces- 

 santly two alarm notes as she walked round me. One of these notes was the 

 characteristic trill, unlike, I think, any other cry in the bird world ; the other, 

 which appeared to be the note of extra alarm, was a harsh cry reminding me 

 much of the alarm note of the lesser tern. In order to observe the effect, I 

 called several times, imitating the cry of one of her chicks. The effect was 

 striking and instantaneous: the bird rushed up in alarm and literally rolled 

 herself about on the ground with feathers ruffled. She, indeed, presented such 

 an appearance that it was quite impossible to see her head or feet emerging 

 from the disheveled bundle into which she rolled herself. Evidently her tactics 

 were quite different — considerably less elegant, but perhaps equally forcible — to 

 those used by the dotterel under similar circumstances. After a time she began 

 to realize that her deception was producing no effect on the object of her mis- 

 trust, and moved anxiously round me. 



