THE DUNLIN 461 



evidently made by the males were to be found on every tussock of 

 grass." And he adds that not one in a hundred would be occupied. 1 

 This is a very liberal allowance of " scrapes " to each male, probably 

 ten times as many as are made by any other species. Of this species 

 in N.E. Greenland Herr Manniche writes : " On spots where many 

 dunlin nest several newly scratched, but half-finished nests may always 

 be found." When other species of the genus and in all probability 

 most Wader families have been more closely watched in their 

 breeding-places, it will no doubt be found that the habit of making 

 extra "scrapes" is common to all. 



The most conspicuous of the spring activities of the male dunlin 

 takes the form of a flight analogous to the song-flight of the lapwing 

 or the drumming-flight of the snipe. They rise pipit-like, often soar- 

 ing to a considerable height, and descend with quivering wings ; but 

 during a period of the descent the wings are almost fully spread and 

 motionless. A trilling song is always uttered during this period, but 

 is not confined to it. Mr. Alfred Jackson, who watched the species 

 on a marsh near the Mersey in Lancashire, often heard the trilling 

 or, as he described it, "bleating, buzzing whistle" uttered on the 

 ground, and also " while gliding through the air on quite a horizontal 

 plane." The spring flight and song are apparently confined to the 

 male, and occur most freely while the female is sitting. Two birds 

 often perform together without showing hostility. 4 The song has 

 been described as " a string of notes, ' whiz-whiz-whiz-whiz-whiz-whiz,' 

 following in quick succession, commencing high in the musical scale 

 and gradually descending ; seeming to be within the compass of four 

 notes, including all the intermediate intonations." 5 Another note 

 uttered by the bird while standing on the ground, or skimming in low 

 flight over the grass less often from a height in the air is common 

 to both sexes, and is a modification of the "purring" winter note. 



of Scottish Natural History, 1908, p. 24. 

 Manniche, Terrestrial Mammals and Birds of North-east Greenland, p. 137. 

 1 Zoologist, 1906, pp. 21-25. 

 4 Annals of Scottish Natural History, 1908, p. 24. 6 Zoologist, 1906, p. 22. 



VOL. III. 30 



