268 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. vi. 



her male came to relieve her. After about three minutes 

 she got up, walked away, and squatted again just on the 

 sky-line some fifty or sixty yards away, putting hei- tail 

 straight up in the air. Mean\\'hile he came close to the 

 tent, i.e. within three yards, and stood as if listening. 

 He then walked a\\ay again and \\ent and stood near her, 

 A\here he remained stationaiy for so long a time that at 

 last I gave tlie signal to be released. Almost immediately 

 r had done so he v.alked towards the eggs, but before 

 he got near he saw the keeper coming, and ran away. 

 After leaving the tent and disappearing over the top of 

 tlie hill I waited a quarter of an hour, and then crept 

 back and had a spy A\ith a po^^erful pair of field-glasses. 

 The last thing I saw was one of the birds standing quite 

 close to the tent, apparently listening for any sound 

 which might come from it. It was then 7 p.m. and I 

 had to leave. 



May Gih. Wind blowing briskly from the south-east. 

 I was at the tent by about 3.50 p.m. One of the birds, 

 which I took to be the male, soon appeared (i e. within 

 five or six minutes) and came running up, but on getting 

 directly to leeward of the tent about ten yards away he 

 evidently became suspicious and kept wandering round 

 and round. He went occasionally out of sight over the 

 sky-line some sixty yards away, but soon re-appeared. 

 Then one of them, I think the female, hid herself between 

 two clods of earth forty to fifty yards away to leeward 

 of the tent. Aftei' some time she came right round the 

 tent and finally settled on her eggs. From this moment 

 she showed no moi^e anxiety and occasionally went to 

 sleep. Could this suspicion, so much more marked than 

 on May 4th, have been due to the birds having smelt 

 me ? The first that came — I think the male — was very 

 suspicious, as mentioned above. He peered so hard at 

 the tent. This \\'as much more marked than his atti- 

 tude on the former occasion, ^hen the conditions, except 

 the difference in the force of the wind, wove very 

 similar. 



