THE DOTTEREL 237 



solitary calf only a day or two old. He was prettily 

 marked with dark spots, and his small tail was of a light 

 fawn colour, contrasting markedly with the rest of his coat. 

 He was the only youngster amongst the herd, and he often 

 approached too near the various hinds to whom he did 

 not belong, being driven off with scant sympathy to his 

 rightful parent. Somewhere near the Dotterel was shelter- 

 ing his newly-hatched young, and in the midst of such 

 wild surroundings I left him to his well-earned quietness 

 and rest. 



An interesting fact in the nesting of the Dotterel is that 

 it scarcely ever takes wing from the vicinity of the nest 

 and young, but when it spies the approach of the human 

 intruder, runs forward over the short Alpine vegetation 

 with considerable speed, in order to place as great a 

 distance as possible between itself and its treasures before 

 being noticed. If on these occasions one lies quite still 

 for a few minutes, the fugitive gathers together a certain 

 amount of courage, and gradually makes its way back, 

 until it is standing inquiringly only a few yards distant. 

 At such times the white stripe which extends from above 

 the eye to the back of the head is clearly marked, and at 

 once serves to identify the bird from the Golden Plover, 

 though the latter bird is also of considerably stronger 

 and heavier build. 



Numerous instances are on record of Dotterel having 

 broods of young in late July or even August — a keeper 

 of my acquaintance found a bird sitting on eggs on 

 July 2Gth — but I think that the birds rarely nest again 

 if their first clutches are destroyed by snow in early June. 

 Should the first hatching have been successful, the young 

 Dotterel are able to take wing before the end of July, and 

 shortly after this date the birds, young and old, collect 

 into large flocks preparatory to the southern migration. 

 Its journey south is a more leisurely affair than its spring 



