57 
DUNLIN. 
beck, ten miles from the sea, about a hundred yards from 
my own gate, in the severe winter of 1853-4, on the 4th. 
of January. In December, 1844, a pair were shot on the 
bank of the Trent, near Melbourne, Derbyshire. In Surrey 
it is said to have occurred near Godalming. 
This species advances to the north in the spring, and 
retreats southwards in the autumn, travelling, it is related, 
‘early in the morning or late at night, when they fly close 
to the ground along the sea-shore, or high in the air across 
the water, flying in a straight line at a quick pace. It is 
worthy of observation that the old and young birds are 
hardly ever known to migrate in mixed groups, but always 
keep each to themselves.’ 
About the middle of April, or nearer to its end, or in the 
beginning of May, they betake themselves to the moors to 
nest, attaching themselves to the same grounds as the Plovers 
and the Snipes, and towards the end of August again return 
to the sea-side, though found at times also by the margins 
of lakes and rivers. They approach dwelling-houses without 
fear, if such happen to adjoin the places that are congenial 
to their habits. They frequent the coasts, and especially 
those parts which are sandy and humid, or where mud 
prevails. . 
‘In Scotland and in its islands,’ says Selby, ‘this bird may 
be considered as indigenous, and great numbers are known to 
breed not only upon the sea-coast, but in the marshes of 
the interior. A few also remain in Northumberland, which 
may be ealled the southern lmit of the permanent residence 
of the species. It is not to be supposed, however, that the 
nultitudes that people our northern shores are the offspring 
of such only as breed in this latitude; they are principally 
composed of migrants from countries farther northward, to 
which the great body retires during summer.’ I may, how- 
ever, here observe that many pass the summer, at all events, 
so far south as Yorkshire; their nests have been found on 
Stockton Common, near York, and they have been known to 
build on Thorne Moor, near Doncaster, and on the high 
moors near Halifax; one was shot at Brodsworth, near 
Doncaster, in the spring of 1844. In Cambridgeshire, the 
Rev. Leonard Jenyns records that they were seen now and 
then in summer time, in the fens, and that in the beginning 
of July, 1824, they were particularly abundant in that 
district. 
