THE DOTTEREL 227 



Their ground colour was of a pale olive green, and over 

 this large rich red markings were scattered. It had for a 

 number of years been my ambition to obtain a series of 

 photographs of An t-amadan mointeach, and so I decided 

 that, all being well, I would return and attempt to tame 

 this small dweller of the high hills. But almost at once 

 wild weather came to the country of the mountains. The 

 rain was driven across the plateau by a northerly wind, 

 and towards the close of the day snow took its place. 

 For some time the white flakes fell, and then, with the 

 lifting of the clouds, the hill-top stood out in a covering 

 of snow. In the west-facing corries the sun shone with 

 strength sufficient to cause a cloud of grey steam to rise 

 from the ground and to drift away above the skj^-line, 

 but on the hill-top the snow remained ; and soon, sharply 

 defined against the white expanse, one saw dark, antlered 

 forms outlined against the grey clouds, for the hill stags 

 came from far across the tops to seek the shelter of the 

 quiet glen beneath. All next day a northerly gale swept 

 the strath. Far below, where the Dotterel sat brooding 

 his eggs, the mist swirled and rushed across the corries, 

 and driving rain and sleet beat in his face. It was not 

 until the afternoon of the second day that the clouds 

 lifted, and from now till the hatching of his young the 

 small bird had fine weather almost uninterruptedly. 



It was on a glorious day of mid-June that I next made 

 my way to the Dotterel's country. The air was still, and 

 the sky free of clouds as I passed up the glen. On the 

 burn-side a pair of Sandpipers, the proud possessors of a 

 newly-hatched brood of chicks, showed the most intense 

 anxiety, fluttering before me and uttering plaintive cries. 

 On the loch a brood of young Goosanders were shepherded 

 by their mother, and right on the path a Mallard was brood- 

 ing a family of well -grown ducklings. In the deep corrie 

 beyond the loch I could see a young Golden Eagle in its 



