396 



f HARADRIID.E. 



Buttermere. The former had been incubated twelve or 

 fourteen days ; the latter were only recently laid ; and, in 

 both instances, the birds were seen to leave their eggs : one, 

 on quitting them, immediately spread out its Avings and tail, 

 which it trailed on the ground a short distance, and then 

 went away without uttering a single note. On this day, 

 5tli of July 1835, a young bird, a few days old, was also 

 captured. 





" Having spent a considerable portion of several days on 

 Robinson, in company with a very able assistant, searching 

 for the eggs of the Dottrel, I had, of course, ample opportu- 

 nities of observing their manners ; and I flatter myself that 

 the following particulars Avill be interesting to some of my 

 ornithological readers. On the ord of July we found three 

 or four pair near the most elevated part of this mountain ; 

 and on all our visits thither, whether early in the morning or 

 late in the afternoon, the greater part were always seen near 



