DUNLIN 293 
is far advanced, the female sits so closely that she will 
almost suffer herself to be trod upon rather than leave her 
nest. 
At the commencement of the pairing-season I have seen 
two birds fly to a great height in the air, and then shoot 
downwards with remarkable velocity. This habit is also 
practised by the male when his mate is hatching. 
In the northern section of England, as far south as 
Yorkshire, the Dunlin breeds in scattered numbers over 
the moors, while on the east side its eggs have been taken 
from Lincolnshire. It is a rare breeding-species in the 
south, but the nest has been found in Cornwall and in 
Devon, while Mr. Saunders has seen the young (at an 
age when they were hardly able to fly) on Hxmoor, in 
Somerset. 
In Wales, this species has been found breeding in 
Cardiganshire and Merioneth. 
In Scotland it nests not only on the mainland, but also 
on many of the Western and Northern Island-Groups. 
In Ireland, the eggs have been recorded from the follow- 
ing counties :— Wicklow, Mayo, Donegal, Londonderry, 
Fermanagh, Roscommon, and Westmeath. 
Geographical distribution—Abroad, the Dunlin breeds 
in Arctic and Temperate Europe, its eggs having been 
obtained as far south as Denmark, Holland, Germany, 
Spain, and North Italy (Saunders). Eastward, it ranges 
over Siberia; westward, over a large tract of the North 
American Continent, including Greenland. On migration, 
in autumn and winter, it is distributed chiefly along the 
flat sea-coasts (but also, in less numbers, on the inland 
waters) of the European Continent, reaching to Tropical 
Africa and Asia, and westward to Central America. 
DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 
PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial.—Feathers of the top of 
head, hind-neck, back, scapulars, and long inner secondaries, 
blackish, with warm rufous edgings and spots; outer 
secondaries, brownish, showing white on the inner webs; 
wing-coverts, greyish-brown ; primaries, dull mouse-brown ; 
tail, greyish-brown, except the longer central feathers 
which are blackish with buff edgings; cheeks, throat, and 
sides of neck, greyish-white, with brownish-black streaks ; 
chin, whitish; breast, black, showing in some specimens an 
