

DOTTEREL. 33 



were breeding on the same ground, which was sprinkled over with granite 

 boulders, the bare bog being almost concealed by innumerable little 

 hummocks clad with soft moss, dwarf cranberries, and other alpine plants. 

 After seeing the birds, they attempted to find the nest by a systematic 

 search, which proved unsuccessful; but an hour or more later Captain 

 Feilden returned to the place and succeeded, after a short time, in 

 watching the bird to her nest. He described the habits as almost exactly 

 resembling those of the Grey Plover, which Harvie-Brown and I observed 

 and described under similar circumstances. Whilst he remained too near 

 the nest the female simply flew from place to place around him ; but on his 

 removing to a greater distance she alighted on a hummock, looked round, 

 ran along the narrow paths for some distance, when she again mounted a 

 hummock to make further observations, and after passing backwards and 

 forwards in a similar manner, finally stood still at the nest and settled 

 down upon her eggs. She allowed him to approach very closely before 

 leaving them, when she fluttered off as if wounded, remaining at no great 

 distance, constantly uttering her plaintive note. The three eggs were 

 placed in a hollow in the moss, with no lining of any sort. 



The eggs of the Dotterel vary in ground-colour from greyish buff to 

 ochraceous buff, with sometimes the faintest possible tinge of olive, 

 and are blotched and spotted with rich dark brown and with underlying 

 markings of inky grey. The surface-markings are generally large, con- 

 cealing a large portion of the ground-colour, and are often confluent, 

 especially on the larger end of the egg. Some eggs have the spots much 

 larger than others, but on most of them they are pretty evenly distributed 

 over the entire surface. The underlying spots are small and remarkably 

 few in number. The eggs vary considerably in shape, some being almost 

 as pointed at the large end as at the small, whilst others are pear-shaped; 

 they vary in length from 1'75 to 1'5 inch, and in breadth from 1-17 to 

 1*1 inch. The only eggs of a British bird at all likely to be confused 

 with those of the Dotterel are certain varieties of those of the Arctic Tern, 

 some of which are almost indistinguishable from those of the Dotterel, 

 but the latter have fewer and smaller underlying markings. 



The food of the Dotterel consists principally of insects of various kinds, 

 amongst which small beetles appear to be a special favourite. It also eats 

 worms, grubs, and small grasshoppers, and the tender shoots of alpine plants 

 have also been found in its stomach. 



The difference in plumage between the sexes of this species has given rise 

 to much difference of opinion amongst ornithologists. The earlier writers 

 appear to have taken it for granted that the most brilliantly coloured 

 bird was the male. Even Macgillivray and Montagu held this opinion. 

 Naumaim asserts that the plumage of the sexes is exactly alike, the 

 variations being those of age, especially mentioning that he has shot 



VOL. III. D 



