The Ptarmigan of the Waves 



Next morning at six o'clock I visited the nest, but the 

 morning's tide did not reach it. That day we were obliged 

 to travel to the far end of the island, more than thirty miles 

 distant, and there was no one to watch over the nest. A 

 strong wind swept in the waters of the flood tide, and I 

 felt sure that the eggs must be carried away. It was just 

 at high water that I returned, and at once made my way 

 to the sea loch, with the faint hope that I might be in time 

 to save the eggs. But to my disappointment I found several 

 inches of water covering the nesting site, and to make 

 matters worse a strong wind was blowing off the land. Had 

 it not been for this I believe I could have saved the eggs, 

 as they would have been floating near, and their 

 immersion would, in all probability, have done them no 

 harm. 



This time the birds seemed to realise their loss, calling 

 repeatedly and moving restlessly across the shingle near 

 where their home had been, and I felt sad for them, that 

 their second attempt at rearing a brood should have ended 

 in disaster. 



More than those of almost any bird the eggs of the 

 ringed plover harmonise with their surroundings, and so it 

 is almost impossible to discover the nest by straightforward 

 searching. By far the simplest method is to sit or lie 

 quietly in the neighbourhood of where, by her behaviour, 

 a ringed plover has given one reason for thinking she has 

 a nest. And really this small wader, though apparently 

 timid, is, in reality, quite confiding. Provided that the 

 observer remains motionless, not many minutes elapse 

 before she begins to run, in short hurried rushes, towards 

 her nest. As she approaches her eggs she becomes more 

 wary, and halts more often, or, perhaps, runs on at a tan- 

 gent so as to mislead the enemy ; but it is not long before, 

 if one is the possessor of a good glass, one has the satisfaction 

 of seeing her slip quietly on to her eggs, and settle down to 

 brood them. 



'37 



