248 CHARADRIIDiE 



In the ueiglibourboocl of Carlisle, Dottrels seldom make 

 their appearance before the middle of May, about which 

 time they are occasionally seen in different localities, in 

 flocks which vary in number from five to fifteen, and almost 

 invariably resort to heaths, barren pastures, fallow grounds, 

 &c., in open and exposed situations, where they continue, if 

 unmolested, from ten days to a fortnight, and then retire to 

 the mountains in the vicinity of the lakes to breed. The 

 most favourite breeding-haunts of these birds are always 

 near to or on the summits of the highest mountains, par- 

 ticularly those that are densely covered with the woolly 

 fringe-moss, Trichostominn lanuyinosum, Hedw., which, 

 indeed, grows more or less profusely on nearly all the most 

 elevated parts of this alpine district.* In these lonely 

 places they constantly reside the whole of the breeding- 

 season, a considerable part of the time enveloped in clouds, 

 and almost daily drenched with rain and wetting mists, so 

 extremely prevalent in these dreary regions : and there can 

 be little doubt that it is owing to this peculiar feature in 

 their economy, that they have remained so long in obscurity 

 during the period of incubation. The Dottrel is by no 

 means a solitary bird at this time, as a few pairs usually 

 associate together, and live, to all appearance, in the greatest 

 harmony. These birds do not make any nest, but deposit 

 their eggs, which seldom exceed three in number, in a small 

 cavity on dry ground covered with vegetation, and generally 

 near a moderate-sized stone, or fragment of rock. In early 

 seasons old females will occasionally begin to lay their eggs 

 about the 26th of May ; but the greater part seldom com- 

 mence before the first or second week in June. It would 

 appear, however, from the following facts, that they vary ex- 

 ceedingly in this respect. On the 19th July, 1833, a perfect 

 egg was taken out of a female, which had been recently 



• " The favourite breeding-stations of tlie Dottrel are frequently called 

 ' smittle places,' by some of tlie guides and anglers at Keswick." [The Editor 

 is informed by Mr. F. Nicholson, who has been in the habit of exploring these 

 moTintains for the last thirty years, and has found a good many Dotterels' eggs, 

 that ' smittle ' is merely a Cumberland word meaning ' likely ' or ' well adapted. '] 



