DOTTEREL. 485 



in Devonshire, but oftener in Dorsetshire. In Wiltshire, 

 Berkshire, Sussex, Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, 

 and Norfolk, small flocks, or trips as they are called, of 

 Dotterel are seen in the spring on their way to their breed- 

 ing-ground, which, in many instances, is very far north, 

 and those or others are again seen in the autumn on their 

 return, their numbers then reinforced by the addition of the 

 young birds of the year. On the chalk hills about Royston 

 on the borders of Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire, these 

 birds have been observed for many years to make their 

 first appearance in each season by the 20th of April ; they 

 are seen for about ten days, some probably moving on to 

 the northward, and their places being supplied for a time 

 by other arrivals from the south. They are found generally 

 on the fallows, or newly-ploughed lands near the edges of 

 the downs, or sheep-walks, where they appear to feed on 

 worms, slugs, insects, and their larvae. From these coun- 

 ties the birds pass on to more northern localities, and are 

 seen in Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, 

 Westmoreland, Cumberland, Northumberland, and various 

 parts of Scotland, always inhabiting high ground. They 

 are generally seen in these northern districts in May. Dr. 

 Beck, of Copenhagen, told me that the Dotterel pass the 

 islands at the mouth of the Baltic about the 1 st of June, 

 and disperse over Scandinavia. Professor Nilsson mentions 

 their annual visit to Sweden : Mr. Hewitson saw some on 

 the ploughed fields of Norway ; and my friend Mr. Dann 

 gave me two eggs taken in that country. Linneus says 

 they are frequent in Dalecarlia and the Lapland Alps ; and 

 they are known to go as high as the sixty-seventh degree 

 of north latitude. They are said to breed also in Russia, 

 Siberia, and Northern Asia. 



The best account of the habits of this species at its 

 breeding ground has been supplied by T. C. Heysham, 



