8 CHAEADEIID^. 



were hard-sat Once I watched a Dotterel running about, till at length it 



sat down, and I felt sure it was on the nest. Approaching quietly, I got within 

 six feet of her, when I perceived that the bird had gone to roost ; her eyes were 

 shut, and she was fast asleep : it was a very pretty sight. On looking at my 

 watch I found it was midnight." 



Messrs. H. J. Pearson and E. Bidwell met with this species in iSforway 

 in 1893. They write * : — " We found a nest on June 22nd mth three eggs, very 

 distinctly marked, on the summit of a high fell in the Porsanger, and shot the 

 female from the nest. It was placed between two patches of reindeer moss, 

 a piece of Empetrum nigrum, and dwarf birch (about 1| in. high), and was lined 

 with dead birch-leaves. We afterwards saw two more birds ; but a thick fog 

 coming on we were obliged to give over our search for their nest." 



Mr. H. Seebohm describes the eggs of this species as follows f : — " The 

 eggs of the Dotterel vary in ground-colour from greyish buff to ochraceous 

 buff, with sometimes the faintest possible tinge of olive, and are blotched 

 and spotted with rich dark brown and with underlying markings of inky grey. 

 The surface-markings are generally large, concealing a large portion of the 

 ground-colour, and are often confluent, especially on the larger end of the egg. 

 Some eggs have the spots much larger than others, but on most of them they are 

 pretty evenly distributed over the entire surface. The underlying spots are small 

 and remarkably few in number. The eggs vary considerably in shape, some being 

 almost as pointed at the large end as at the small, whilst others are pear-shaped ; 

 they vary in length from 1-75 to 1-5 inch, and in breadth from 1-17 to IT inch. 

 The only eggs of a British bird at all likely to be confused with those of the 

 Dotterel are certain varieties of those of the Arctic Tern, some of which are 

 almost indistinguishable from those of the Dotterel, but the latter have fewer and 

 smaller underlying markings." 



Mr. H. E. Dresser states that the measurements of a tolerably large series 

 of eggs of this species in his collection, obtained in Norway and Lapland, vary 

 from 1-6 by 1T2 inch to 1"52 by 1'05 inch. Mr. Dresser further states that he 

 has been informed by Mr. Meves that out of over fifty clutches of eggs of the 

 Dotterel which have passed through his hands, he has never kno\vn a clutch to 

 consist of more than three eggs ; the largest eggs he has had measured from 1-77 

 to 1-81 inch by 1T4 inch, and the smallest 1-41 by IT inch, and 1-49 by 

 1-06 inch. $ 



* " On a Birds'-nesting Excursion to the North of Norway in 1&93," ' Ibis,' 1894, p. 233. 



t ' History of British Birds,' vol. iii. p. 33. 



:i: 'History of the Birds of Europe,' vol. vii. pp. 517, 518. 



