247 



The Dottrell. 



" The Dottrell, whieh we think a dainty dish, 

 Whose taking makes such sport as man no more can wish, 

 For as you ereepe, or coure, or lye, or stampe, or goe, 

 So marking you ^^^ith care the apeish bird doth doe ; 

 And acting eyerj-thing, doth never mark the net. 

 Till he be in the snare which man for him have set." — Draytox. 



The dottrell is unknown in some parts of Ed gland, 

 but in the counties of Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, and 

 Derbyshire they are tolerably numerous. These birds are 

 migratory : on Lincoln Heath and on the moors of 

 Derbyshire they make their appearance in small flights 

 about the month of April, remaining there all May and 

 the greater part of Jime, dming which time they are in 

 good condition, and much esteemed for their excellent 

 flavour. In Cambridgeshire they appear much about the 

 same time, and remain the same period as in the other 

 counties. In the months of April and September they 

 are taken on the downs of Wiltshire and Berkshire. 

 They are also found in the beginning of the former 

 month on the scacoast at Meales in Lancashire, and 

 continue there about three weeks, attending the barley 

 fallows. From thence they remove northward, and 

 remain there a short time, and are plentiful about 

 Holderness and upon the Yorkshire wolds. It is not 

 quite certain where they breed ; it is supposed to be on 



