286 HILL BIRDS OF SCOTLAND 



relief from the heat, although the extent of the snow was 

 scarcely sufficient to harbour them. At our sudden 

 appearance at close quarters from behind a sheltering 

 ridge they sprang up in alarm and fled precipitately. A 

 little farther on a hind by herself suggested the probability 

 of her having a calf concealed somewhere in the neigh- 

 bourhood, but this surmise was not substantiated by a 

 search. At length we reached that particular part of the 

 plateau where the Dunlin have their haunt. 



A little loch lies here. Its waters are rarely quiet ; 

 they are exposed to the winds from every quarter of the 

 compass. Round the lochan peat-hags extend for a con- 

 siderable distance, and the white flowers of the cotton- 

 grass catch the breeze. 



It was near the lochan that I had my first sight of the 

 bird for which I searched. A male Dunlin, handsome in 

 his black breast, which he assumes only during the nesting 

 season, was probing the soft peat in a little basin. I 

 was almost upon him before he realised my approach, 

 but he showed surprisingly little concern, and merely 

 walked off quietly towards the small loch. For a time I 

 sought for his mate, searching the grass and heather in 

 the vicinity, and then moved down to the lochan. INIy 

 bird was standing on its shore, and this time took wing, 

 flying over the water as he uttered his peculiar purring 

 cry. I was convinced that his mate was brooding in the 

 neighbourhood. For a time I watched him. The heat 

 till now had been oppressive, but with the passing of the 

 noontide there rose a wind from out of the south-west, 

 ruffling the dark peaty waters of the lochan and dispersing 

 the clouds overhead. Eastward, over the Cairngorms, 

 dark clouds settled on the hills, and against the wind 

 came the rumble of far-distant thunder. To the south 

 of the lochan the ground rose gradually, and from this 

 direction the friend who accompanied me on the expedi- 



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