DOTTEREL. S97 



the same place, sitting on the ground. When first disco- 

 vered, they permitted us to approach within a short distance, 

 without showing any symptoms of alarm ; and frequently 

 afterwards, when within a few paces, watching their move- 

 ments, some would move slowly about and pick up an insect, 

 others would remain motionless, now and then stretching out 

 their wings, and a few would occasionally toy with each other, 

 at the same time uttering a few low notes, which had some 

 resemblance to those of the Common Linnet. In short, they 

 appeared to be so very indifferent with regard to our pre- 

 sence, that at last my assistant could not avoid exclaiming, 

 ' What stupid birds these are ! ' The female that had 

 young, nevertheless evinced considerable anxiety for their 

 safety, whenever we came near the place where they were 

 concealed, and as long as we remained in the vicinity, con- 

 stantly flew to and fro above us, uttering her note of alarm. 



" As soon as the young birds were fully feathered, two were 

 killed for the purpose of examining their plumage in this 

 state ; and we found that after they had been fired at once or 

 twice, they became more wary, and eventually we had some 

 little difficulty in approaching sufficiently near to effect our 

 purpose. The moult appears to commence somewhat early 

 in old birds; a male that was killed on the 2.5th of July, was 

 completely covered with pen feathers, and the belly, from 

 incubation, almost entirely bare. The stomachs I dissected 

 were all filled with the elytra^ and remains of small coleop- 

 terous insects, which, in all probability, constitute their prin- 

 cipal food during the breeding season. 



" These birds, I understand, are getting every year more and 

 more scarce in the neighbourhood of the lakes ; and from the 

 numbers that are annually killed by the anglers at Keswick 

 and the vicinity, — their feathers having long been held in 

 high estimation for dressing artificial flies, — it is extremely 

 probable that in a few years they will become so exceedingly 



