THE DUNLIN 287 



tion appeared, walking rapidly. His news was that he 

 had flushed a Dunlin, which, from her behaviour, he ima- 

 gined must have a nest in the vicinity, but had been unable 

 to find the nest. We at once made our way back to the 

 spot, and found the Dunlin Sandpiper standing quietly 

 a short distance away. Until we had almost reached her 

 she stood there, then, feigning a broken leg, unless, 

 indeed, she had in reality come by an accident, she 

 moved a little farther off. 



We remained waiting quietly for some time, then the 

 Dunlin, flying back, alighted without sound a few yards 

 from us. But we were evidently too near her nest 

 to permit of her returning to it. Moving, therefore, to 

 another part of the hill, we lay down where we had a good 

 view of the small bird, marking her until she settled down 

 out of sight. As we again approached her she rose and 

 fluttered off before us. The nest, however, was remark- 

 ably difficult to discover ; indeed, it was only as we were 

 abandoning the search that we came across it. Placed 

 among some short grass, it was hidden away in quite a 

 noteworthy manner, and was scarcely more conspicuous 

 than that of a skylark. The nesting hollow was of the 

 slightest, and in it lay three small eggs harmonising closely 

 with their surroundings. To all appearances they had 

 been laid only a very short time ; indeed, it is possible 

 that the fourth egg had not as yet been deposited, and so 

 I decided to return at a somewhat later date in the endeavour 

 to photograph the sitting bird. A fortnight later, when 

 the Dunlin should have been sitting close, I again visited 

 the plateau. 



The day was an unsuitable one for photography, for 

 a cold west wind hurried over the high ground, bringing 

 with it the breath of winter. On our way we passed the 

 spot where a Grouse had hatched off her brood, and a 

 little later flushed a second Grouse brooding her family 



