THE DOTTEREL. 351 



represented in market : this is occasioned by the ease with which 

 it can be either shot or netted. 



The Dotterel is a little larger than a Blackbird. It visits Britain 

 in March and September, and flocks of these birds frequent 

 the vast plains of France. This is the bird which seems to persist 

 in sacrificing itself to the sportsman's gun when its companion has 

 fallen a victim before the murderous weapon. It also shows the 

 simplicity of believing that drunken people must be animated with 

 the kindest feelings towards it ; so much so, that it is only requisite 

 to exhibit the outward signs of bacchanalian excitement, and the 

 birds will be filled with a sense of false security, so that you may 

 approach within a few yards of them. 



Fig. 142. Common Dotterel. 



The Dotterel has produced the reputation for fat pate de Chartres : 

 the bird's personal experience should long ago have convinced it how 

 heavy the burden of renown sometimes proves. They have, in fact, 

 been so much sought after, that they have been almost annihilated. 



The Ringed Dotterel (Charadrius hiaticuld] is about half the size 

 of a Blackbird. It is distinguished by its black collar, and also by its 

 extraordinarily brilliant and gold-coloured eyes. In former days this 

 bird had the credit of being able to cure the jaundice. All that was 

 necessary was for the sick person to look fixedly at the bird's eyes, 

 with a firm faith in the success of the experiment ; under these con- 

 ditions the bird was obliging enough to relieve him of his malady. 

 This superstitious idea has departed to join all the rest of the medical 

 opinions of the Middle Ages. 



The Common Dotterel (Charadrius morindlus, Fig. 142) much 



