152 BULLETIN 146^ UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



young, it will show extraordinary boldness and will even allow 

 itself to be lifted off the nest by the hand, settling down again as soon 

 as it is removed. Bengt Berg actually succeeded in photographing 

 a bird in the act of accepting a worm from the hand. The only 

 information as to the length of the incubation period is Heyshams 

 oft-quoted assertion that it rarely lasts more than 18 or 20 days. 

 Only a single brood is reared in a season, but the hen will lay a 

 second time about a fortnight after the first clutch has been 

 destroyed. 



Young. — In one case when Seton Gordon came across a nest with 

 half -grown chicks, both parents showed signs of great excitement and 

 almost complete disregard of his presence, running backward and 

 forward and frequently uttering their soft whistle which sounded 

 something like ttoee, twee, tuur, the first two notes pitched in a 

 high key and the last a purring sound difficult to express in writing. 

 On other occasions only a single old bird accompanied the young and 

 considerable differences were apparent in their behavior, some show- 

 ing signs of great anxiety when the young w^ere approached while 

 others were apparently almost indifferent and remained some dis- 

 tance off. 



Plumages. — The plumages and molts are fully described in A 

 Practical Handbook of British Birds edited by H. F. Witherby 

 (1920). 



Food. — On its breeding grounds it feeds on insects (Diptera, 

 Coleoptera, and their larvae). Collett records Bernhndimn and 

 Elater larvae; Petenyi records Dorcadion, Silpha, and Pachygastra. 

 Earthworms are also taken, according to Saxby, Collett, and Berg. 

 H. J. Pearson also records vegetable matter, apparently seeds of 

 EmpetruTn nigrum or crowberry. H. B. Tristram writes that in its 

 winter quarters in Palestine it subsists largely on small snails 

 {Helix). 



Behavior. — The dotterel is a quiet, unobtrusive bird, not associ- 

 ating much with other waders and generally met with in small 

 parties out of the breeding season. Its general brown coloring is not 

 striking and no doubt it is frequently overlooked. Its flight is 

 strong, the clean-cut wings, as Gordon says, " moving with swift and 

 powerful strokes only a few feet above the surface of the ground." 



Enemies. — Naumann (1887) states that the chief enemies of the 

 dotterel are the falcons (peregrine, hobby, and merlin) and the 

 short- winged hawks (goshawk and sparrow hawk). 



Fall. — At Heligoland Giitke (1895) observed large numbers of 

 young birds of the year on passage on one or two occasions; on 

 August 22, 1882, great numbers passed, although wind and rain 



