102 BIRDS OF LOCH AND MOUNTAIN 



exposed situation, I found one in the middle of 

 a larch wood on a river island, and the Oyster 

 Catcher looked strangely out of place as she got 

 off her eggs and ran rapidly through the wood. 

 When the sitting hen sees the intruder from afar, 

 she never flies off the nest, but runs rapidly along 

 the shingle, and although you see her and 

 give chase, she will not rise, but will run 

 along as fast as she can until she has put a 

 considerable distance between herself and the 



Last May the Scottish rivers came down in high 

 spate consequent upon three days of continuous rain, 

 and many eggs of the Oyster Catcher must have 

 been swept away. At that time I noticed pairs 

 of Goosanders flying disconsolately about, so that 

 probably their eggs shared the same fate. 



By the latter half of July the young Oyster 

 Catchers are strong on the wing, and then they 

 assemble into flocks and leave the rivers for the 

 coast. Many of the birds, however, remain inland 

 throughout August and even during part of Septem- 

 ber ; the latest date I have seen one inland being 

 September 20th. Very often the Lapwing and 

 Oyster Catcher nest together, and although the 

 former is a very pugnacious bird, they usually seem 

 to get on quite well together. 



This is not always the case, however, as on one 

 occasion I watched for some time a Lapwing mak- 

 ing repeated attacks on an Oyster Catcher which 

 was standing on the ground. Soaring to a good 

 height, the Lapwing would swoop down on the Sea 

 Piet to give it its local name which received 

 the attack with head down and tail in the air, but 

 did not attempt to retaliate. At last the Lapwing 



