THE COMMON DOTTEREL. 



WHATEVER the reason, this bird is yearly becom- 

 ing a rarer visitant to North Britain. Frequent- 

 ing only a few favoured places, and ten days or a 

 fortnight being the limit of its stay, no wonder 

 that this beautifully -tinted variety is about as 

 difficult to meet with as any of the whole plover 

 tribe. Even in the palmy days of Pennant, sam- 

 ples of the dotterel killed in Britain were not 

 very attainable, as the following anecdote, told 

 me by an English clergyman, will serve to show. 



When spending the winter at Great Malvern 

 six years ago, this gentleman, being one of the 

 directors of the Museum, was showing me the 

 collection. I took occasion to ask him if there 

 were any dotterels in the neighbourhood, as I had 



