146 THE GAME BIEDS AND WILD FOWL 



Nidification. From the nature of the country it frequents the Dotterel is 

 a rather late breeder, and even in our islands the eggs are seldom laid before the 

 end of May or the first week in June. In higher latitudes they are, of course, 

 later still. There is much of interest attached to the nesting of the Dotterel. 

 In the first place the hen is larger and more handsomely coloured than the cock,* 

 and, as is usual in such very exceptional cases, the male bird not only performs the 

 greater part of the duty of incubation, but takes the largest share in the task 

 of bringing up the young. The nest is merely a slight hollow amongst the 

 moss and lichen or grass near the mountain-tops, or on the open tundra. The 

 eggs are invariably three in number, and very handsome objects, varying from 

 yellowish-olive to pale buff in ground-colour, richly blotched and spotted with 

 dark brown, and, much more sparingly, with slate-grey. They measure on an 

 average 1'6 inch in length by I'l inch in breadth. Incubation lasts from 

 eighteen to twenty-one days. At the nest the old birds are very wary, if some- 

 what tame, and run about or fly from place to place, tiring all but the most 

 patient watcher, and only returning to the eggs when the intruder is considered 

 by the watchful owners to be at a sufficiently safe distance. When the young are 

 discovered the parent oftens feigns lameness, and seeks to lure an intruder away 

 by various cunning artifices. One brood only is reared in the year. Fresh eggs 

 of this species have been found on the Cumberland hills as late as July, probably 

 the produce of birds that had lost their first clutch. 



Diagnostic characters. Eudromias, with the axillaries grey, and the 

 bill shorter than the middle toe without the claw. In breeding plumage this 

 species is easily recognised by its rich chestnut breast and flanks and black belly. 

 Length, 9 inches. 



* This has recently been denied by Dr. Sharpe, who states that the series of skins in the British 

 Museum does not confirm the suggestion. Equally good authorities, however, maintain the contrary. 



