PLOVERS AND SANDPIPERS. I15 
trill, which has been likened by some observers to 
the continuous ringing of a small bell. 
It is a rather remarkable fact that the Dunlin 
is the only species of Zvzuga that nests in the 
British Islands. It breeds sparingly and locally 
in Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset, perhaps in 
Wales, and thence northwards, more generally, over 
the remainder of England, and in Scotland up to 
the Shetlands. Dunlins begin to move from the 
coasts in March and April, and to resort to their 
breeding places, which are situated on the marshy 
moorlands and mountain swamps, often at no great 
distance from the sea, or at least from tidal waters. 
The nest is a mere depression, often in a tussock of 
grass or rushes, or beneath a small bush, or even 
in a patch of thrift on bare sandy soil, lined with 
a few scraps of withered vegetation, or enclosed with 
a few twigs or roots. The four pyriform eggs are 
pale olive or pale brown, blotched and spotted with 
reddish- and blackish-brown and gray. We remark 
the same extraordinary difference between summer 
and winter plumage, as we have already observed 
in the Knot and some others. In summer or 
breeding plumage, the Dunlin is rich reddish-brown 
above, striped with dark brown; lower breast or 
gorget, deep black ; remainder of under parts white. 
In winter the upper parts are chiefly ash-gray, and 
the under parts white, except the gorget, which is 
now grayish-brown. Outside the British Islands 
the Dunlin has a very wide distribution, breeding 
