Wanderings of a Naturalist 



the dotterel he returned without suspicion, and settled down 



confidently on the nest. He seemed, however, to find the 



task of hatching out his wife's eggs a dull and wearisome 



business, and went off to feed no fewer than four times during 



the three hours we had him under observation. On these 



excursions he was away about twenty minutes at a time, but 



on the last occasion he had already been absent from his 



eggs a full half-hour when we— the light having become too 



poor for photography— left the plateau for the day. Next 



morning brought mist and rain to the hill-tops, but towards 



evening the weather cleared, and the following day saw us 



once again at the 4,000-feet level. The nest was reached at 



9.45 a.m. (G.M.T.), but the bird was off feeding and the 



^ggs none too warm. The chicks, however, could now be 



heard tapping vigorously on the walls of their prisons, and 



a few minutes later Mr. Dotterel returned from his leisured 



meal, running rapidly over the ground and ignoring the 



hiding-tent, which we had just erected eight feet from the 



nest. Even when we both sat inside the hide talking to each 



other in ordinary tones our presence was unnoticed. The 



attitude of this obligingly confiding bird seemed, indeed, to 



be, "Out of sight, out of mind," for he took nqf the slightest 



notice of our conversation, and several times dozed on his 



eggs, as one of the photographs which illustrates this chapter 



shows. 



Once he stood up in the nest and pecked hard at a chip- 

 P'ng ^gg^ apparently removing a small piece of the shell. 

 He permitted my companion to approach to within twelve 

 inches of him and then ran off, holding up one wing as 

 though wounded. Once when shamming injury he shrieked 

 aloud, but soon forgot his anxiety and began to feed uncon- 

 cernedly only a few yards away, returning to the nest within 

 ten minutes and at once falling asleep. 



From 9.45 a.m. till 12.15 P-m. he twice went off to feed. 

 The first time he left the nest was at 10.50 a.m., but he was 

 absent only about five minutes. At 11. 17 he again became 



no 



