DOTTEREL. GRALLATORES. CHARADRIUS. 237 



logical Dictionary, after stating the probability of the fact, 

 observes, that he once saw Dotterels in Scotland sufficiently 

 late to induce him to entertain such an idea, and further 

 adds, that Col. THORNTON informed him of his having seen 

 Dotterels in pairs upon the Grampian Hills ; but, unfortu- 

 nately, in neither of these cases is the precise time of year 

 mentioned. Dr FLEMING, in his History of British Animals, 

 cites a passage from the Statistical Account of the parish of 

 Carmylie, in favour of the above supposition ; but the para- 

 graph is too generally worded to establish as a fact, the re- 

 sidence and breeding of these birds upon the Grampian 

 Mountains. In Northumberland (where considerable flocks 

 annually appear in certain haunts near the coast in the month 

 of May, and where their visit seldom extends beyond a week 

 or ten days), I have, during summer, examined all the up- 

 land moors, and the range of the Cheviot Hills, these being 

 the situations to which they would naturally retire, if any 

 remained, to breed, but always without success ; nor did the 

 bird appear to be known to the shepherds or other inhabi- 

 tants of these districts. The same may be said of the moors 

 of Cumberland, and the south-western parts of Scotland, 

 where, indeed, it is of very rare occurrence, even during its pe- 

 riodical flight ; the line of migration of the passing bodies that 

 visit us in spring being along the eastern coasts of the island. 

 I may also add, that in various excursions to the Highlands 

 of Scotland, I never met with the Dotterel in the summer or 

 breeding season, though its congener the Golden Plover was 

 frequently seen ; nor has any instance occurred of the nest, 

 eggs, or immature young of this bird having been yet found. 

 It is seen, on its return from its breeding quarters, in parti- 

 cular haunts during the months of September and October, 

 generally in families of five or six together, being the old 

 birds and their brood ; occasionally, however, earlier appear- 

 ance may happen, as in the case of the bird mentioned by 

 Col. THORNTON in his Sporting Tour, which he killed in 

 Scotland on the 1 6th of August ; and a Dotterel, apparently 



