DOTTEEEL. 3 



not been long on the mountain, before he observed a pair of Dotterel. He 

 searched for the eggs without success till darkness came on, when he determined 

 to stay out on the mountain all night and renew his search at daybreak, which he 

 did, and was rewarded by finding the eggs. He then walked back to Carlisle, 

 never having been in bed since leaving there the previous day." 



Mr. J. H. Salter, who found the Dotterel breeding in the English Lake 

 District as recently as last year (1894), has published the following interesting 

 account of his discovery * : — 



" During a recent visit to the Lake District, I made inquiries about 

 the Dotterel, Eudromias morinellus. Shepherds and anglers could mention 

 former haunts, and tell of the value set upon this bird by makers of trout-flies ; 

 but the impression seemed to be that few or none remain to breed at the present 

 day. After some search I met with a solitary bird of this species, on July 19th, 

 upon the bare summit of one of the mountains, at a height of about 2740 feet 

 above sea-level. It rose with a weak note, somewhat like that of the Ringed 

 Plover, ^gialitis hiaticula. I found its mate near the same spot, which they 

 Avere unwilling to leave, one or other of the birds being almost always in sight. 

 The ground was covered with sub-alpine mosses, dark in colour, and woolly in 

 texture, with here and there a patch of reddish shade. The hen bird, which seemed 

 most interested in my movements, watched me from a distance of about twenty 

 paces, or took rapid runs of a few yards, stopping now and then to pick up some 

 insect or other food. When running, the neck was drawn in, and head not 

 higher than its shoulders. It was perfectly silent, and harmonised well in colour 

 with the stones.' I noticed an occasional jerking movement of the head, which 

 may have given rise to the old idea of the Dotterel imitating the movements of 

 the fowler. After watching for half an hour, in a bitterly cold wind, I formed 

 some idea of the whereabouts of the nest. As I drew nearer, the bird shuffled 

 along the ground, squeaking like a rabbit ; her white-tipped tail was spread to a 

 perfect fan, wings a little raised, and shivering. It was not until I had watched 

 for some time longer that I at length found two eggs in a slight hollow in the 

 moss. There was no nesting material of any kind. Next day, on visiting the 

 place, I found the bird sitting. After watching her from a distance of four paces, 

 I slowly lessened the distance, and finally stooped and touched her before she 

 slipped off the nest. I thought this tameness of the sitting bird the more note- 

 worthy, as the eggs were not more than half incubated. I came across a second 

 pair on a neighbouring summit, but could see little of them owing to the thick 



* ' Zoologist,' 1894, pp. 343, 344. 



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