Wanderings of a Naturalist 



the sun shone from a cloudless sky, the wind, often blowing 

 with gale force, was bitterly cold at this dotterel's nesting- 

 ground. 



And little wonder, for a few hundred yards to the south 

 of the nest was a great snowfield filling a wild precipitous 

 corrie, and however warm the day at lower levels, the south 

 wind, blowing straight from off the snow, brought always 

 winter in its breath. Day after day the wind had swept the 

 plateau with gale force, so that the dotterel, when running 

 about the nest in characteristic fashion, had frequently to 

 crouch low, head to wind, with legs wide apart and firmly 

 planted on the ground till the passing of the squall. 



Very early on the morning of June lo I first located the 

 birds. They were feeding together on a ridge 4,100 feet 

 above sea level, and for fully an hour and a half a companion 

 and I watched them feed round and round us, entirely care- 

 less of our presence, even at a distance of a few yards. 



The morning was a magnificent one. As far as the eye 

 could see, the deep blue fields of the sky extended without 

 a single cloud to dim them. Only the faintest of airs stirred 

 on the hill-top, and even at this height the air was pleasantly 

 warm. 



In the case of the dotterel it is the hen bird who is the 

 more brightly coloured of the two, and in this instance — it 

 is an interesting fact that those birds nesting in the far north, 

 or at great heights in this country, are more brightly coloured 

 than their relatives of the south or of the lower grounds — 

 both cock and hen were particularly handsome. From their 

 behaviour we made certain their nest was near, but after a 

 time both birds flew off and we saw nothing further of them 

 that day. I was doubtful whether any bird would nest at so 

 great a height, or in so exposed a situation, and came to the 

 conclusion that this pair had lost their eggs by some mis- 

 chance when nesting at lower levels, and the fine morning had 

 tempted them to this wild plateau to feed only. 



Late in the evening of June 16 we again visited the 



T06 



