BIRDS 



465 



the father may take his turn in brooding over the eggs, as in 

 some Woodpeckers. More rarely, as in some of the Plover 

 kind, the relations appear to be reversed, reminding us of what 

 happens in the case of the Running Birds. Dixon thus speaks 

 of the Dotterel (Eudromias morinellus, fig. 986) in this connec- 

 tion (in Among the Birds in Northern Shires): " The Dotterel 

 is one of the very few species in which the hen bird is larger 

 and more brightly coloured than the cock, and the latter con- 



Fig. 986. Female Dotterel (Eudromias morinellus) 



sequently incubates the eggs and takes the greater share in 

 the task of rearing the young. The hen is even said to take 

 the initiative in courtship, but we have yet to learn that the 

 * new woman ' has quoted the fact in support of her advanced 

 opinions! But then the Dotterel is widely known by the accom- 

 panying and preceding epithet of ' foolish ', and its English name 

 is said to be the diminutive of 'Dolt'; while its Latin name 

 of morinellus is said by some to have been derived from morus, 

 a fool facts which those interested in so-called * sex-problems ' 

 will also do well to bear in mind." 



When the mother bird displays great devotion to the task of 

 incubation, brooding on her eggs for long periods, she is diligently 

 fed by her mate, as in the case of Hoopoes (see p. 454). The 



