288 HILL BIRDS OF SCOTLAND 



flight to its nesting haunts, and it is not till November 

 and December that it crosses the Mediterranean at Malta. 



A few birds remain through the winter on the northern 

 shores of this sea, and large flocks winter in the hill country 

 of Southern Palestine. Through south-west Turkestan 

 it passes on migration and winters in Persia. At this 

 season it is also seen in Egypt and along the shores of the 

 Red Sea. Even in the wastes of the Sahara the Dotterel 

 is seen, but is not found east of the Himalayas or south 

 of the Equator. 



On migration they pass regularly through Italy, 

 France, and all parts of Germany. It is interesting, 

 however, to realise that those moving over France have 

 nested in Norway and Lapland, while those which have 

 bred on the steppes of Russia and Western Siberia travel 

 south by way of Turkey and the Crimea. 



There is a certain consolation in the fact that, even if 

 the Dotterel should be temporarily banished from this 

 country as a nesting species, it will have no difficulty in 

 re-establishing itself should favourable opportunities occur, 

 for it is a fairly abundant nesting species on the tundras 

 beyond forest growth from the Atlantic to the Pacific. 



A few, I believe, remain to nest on the higher peaks of 

 the Alps, but generally its line of flight during the spring 

 migration takes it much farther north. 



It has not been met with in the Faroes nor, curiously 

 enough, in Iceland or Greenland, though it might be 

 imagined that many suitable nesting sites would be found 

 in the latter countries. It may be, however, that the 

 Dotterel will yet be found to be a summer migrant to these 

 parts. It breeds in the northern districts of Scandinavia, 

 also in north Norway and Swedish Lapland, but in Fin- 

 land is found only in the extreme northern extremity. 

 Still, I think, it is most numerous amongst the tundras 

 of Siberia, where it arrives sometimes before the winter's 



