THE DOTTEREL 223 



stems or Alpine lichens, such as Trichostomum lanugino- 

 sum. The nest is sometimes partially guarded from the 

 wild storms of wind and rain which prevail at these 

 high levels, by a stone or an irregularity of the ground. 

 Often, however, such shelter is entirely absent, and, like 

 the Ptarmigan, the Dotterel broods on the eggs unprotected 

 from the severity of the weather. 



I once watched for some time a pair of Dotterel which 

 were evidently searching for a suitable nesting site. I 

 flushed the birds from the edge of a great field of snow, 

 and so reluctant were they to leave the spot that at first 

 I was almost led to believe they must be nesting in the 

 vicinity, but a search showed me that they could not 

 have eggs at the point where they rose, as the ground had 

 been freed of its covering of snow only a day or two previ- 

 ously. After a short time, during which I remained quiet 

 in the neighbourhood, I could see one of the Dotterel 

 evidently testing likely situations with a view to their 

 suitability as nesting sites. Running actively about, the 

 bird would now and again sit down upon some little knoll, 

 on which it would " brood " in various positions for a 

 few moments, before moving off and going through the 

 same business at another spot. After a time the bird 

 I had under observation flew uphill until it had reached 

 the snow. Here, standing on the surface of the drift, it 

 was a conspicuous object for a while, until it ultimately 

 moved off to some green grass above the snow. We 

 passed the spot again two days later, but the birds were 

 nowhere to be seen. 



I shall long remember the magnificent weather condi- 

 tions we enjoyed during this expedition to the high hills. 

 For three days the sun shone with intense heat, but during 

 the day on which we made the return journey to the low 

 grounds, a strong wind blowing straight from off the distant 

 Atlantic made walking easy. We halted awhile beside the 



