100 STUDIES IN BIRD-MIGRATION 



In the autumn a few annually visit suitable localities in 

 central England, where they may be observed, chiefly 

 in September. When I resided in Yorkshire, I used to 

 see several each year on the margins of a series of moor- 

 land reservoirs in the heart of the county, where they 

 lingered for some weeks, apparently being attracted by 

 the suitable feeding grounds afforded. South of the 

 H umber, this bird appears to be somewhat irregular 

 in its inland visits, and probably travels further south 

 by way of the coast-line, which it may reach by way 

 of the Yorkshire rivers which debouch into that great 

 estuary. Other species which follow similar routes are 

 the Dunlin, Common Sandpiper, Snipe, Common Tern, 

 and certain Ducks. 



The Dotterel iyEudroniias morinellus), when en route 

 to and from its British summer quarters amid the moun- 

 tains of north-west England and of Scotland, traverses 

 the more elevated inland districts, and is observed on 

 the Chiltern Hills, and the fells of the Pennine chain. 

 Here it was formerly observed in flocks, especially in the 

 spring, but unhappily a very marked diminution in their 

 numbers has taken place in recent years. This diminu- 

 tion corresponds with the decrease of this bird in its 

 British nesting haunts, and is an interesting though 

 melancholy fact, since it clearly indicates that the 

 migrants traversing the high ground of central England 

 were (and are) the birds which breed in our islands. 

 The Dotterel is one of the comparatively few British 

 migratory birds which is more in evidence during the 

 spring movements than in those of the autumn — a 

 somewhat remarkable fact, for the bird is naturally more 

 abundant during the latter season. Other species which 

 affect the moorlands or similar elevated districts in the 



