334 THE PLOVERS 



high on the leg, but ran in a crouching attitude. They resembled the 

 golden-plover on the wing in shape and size, flying and wheeling 

 beautifully together. The call-note Mr. Aplin described as a fairly 

 soft rather twittering whistle, "wit-e-wee, wit-e-wee, wit-e-wee" not so 

 mellow as that of the golden-plover, but still very sweet. When tired 

 of being repeatedly put up, they at last rose high in the air and went 

 off in a north-easterly direction, " the usual Wader spring route." l 



Writing in 1885 on the migration of the dotterel, Mr. John Watson, 

 of Kendal, states that recently made records add nothing, but confirm 

 what has previously been known, viz. that they arrive in this country 

 towards the end of April and early in May. After recruiting for a 

 time on the east coast marshes, they strike inland for the ranges of 

 hills forming the backbone of the six northern counties, and passing 

 along this chain of hills remain to breed on some of them. 2 With 

 regard to the above reference to the dotterel frequenting marshes on 

 the east coast, there was a long controversy in the Field in 1887 3 as 

 to whether the dotterel was ever found in marshes. It arose out of 

 a letter from Mr. F. Boyes, questioning the correctness of Howard 

 Saunders' statement that on the spring migration, dotterel, after rest- 

 ing a few days on the chalk-wolds, " descend to the marshes on the 

 Lincoln and Yorkshire coasts, and remain there till about the end of 

 the third week in May, when they leave for their breeding-grounds." 4 

 It was chiefly a difference of opinion one might almost say a quibble 

 as to what is implied by " marsh." Mr. Boyes took it to mean a wet 

 swamp, which was taking an unnecessarily extreme view, and it was 

 made quite clear by the various correspondents of the Field that 

 dotterel certainly do frequent marshes, such as the drier salt-marshes, 

 Romney marsh in Kent, and the " mosses " in the estuary near the 

 mouth of the Ribble in Lancashire. 



The birds referred to by Howard Saunders as remaining in 

 Lincoln and Yorkshire till the end of the third week in May are 



1 Field, 1892, vol. Ixxix. p. 665. J Ibid., 1885, vol. Ixvi. p. 708. 



3 Ibid., 1887, vol. Ixx. pp. 635, 754, 778, 829. 



4 Yarrell, British Birds, 4th ed., vol. iii. p. 252. 



