186 BRITISH BIRDS. 



at the same moment the sun's rays, as the flock wheels round in its course. 

 At one time the birds may be seen to " bunch/' like a flock of Starlings, 

 and at others they expand into a sheet preparatory to settling down again 

 to feed. Occasionally a solitary bird is to be seen, standing quietly under 

 the lee of a low bank, close to the water's edge. These are generally birds 

 of the year, and usually allow of a near approach without showing signs of 

 alarm. Like most of the Sandpipers, the Dunlin is a bird of very rapid 

 flight, darting along with bent wings, which appear almost closed as the 

 bird shoots diagonally like an arrow to the ground. 



The Dunlin is by no means a noisy bird. Its ordinary alarm-note is not 

 very loud nor very musical, and may be described as a grating sound 

 resembling the syllable trrr. At its breeding-grounds it utters a thick 

 hoarse cry, which may be represented by the syllable peezh, generally 

 uttered as the bird alights on the ground, and possibly a note of endear- 

 ment between the sexes. In the pairing-season the male has a trill like 

 most other Sandpipers. 



The great migration of Dunlins takes place in May and September ; but 

 in Denmark eggs have been taken during the last week of April, whilst in 

 the high north the birds do not reach their breeding-grounds until June. 

 They seldom breed far from the coast, except where tidal rivers tempt them 

 inland. The nest is difficult to find, unless the female, who is a close 

 sitter, is flushed from it. The site chosen is generally the middle of a tuft 

 of grass, or a bare place on the moor surrounded by heather or rushes. 

 The nest itself is a mere depression, with occasionally a slender twig or 

 two round the margin, and lined with a little dead grass, a few roots, or 

 sometimes a little moss. The eggs, which are always four in number, are 

 subject to great variation in colour, and are sometimes remarkably hand- 

 some. They are larger than the eggs of the Little Stint or American 

 Stint, and smaller than those of the Purple Sandpiper and Common Snipe ; 

 but there are no variations of colour or spotting to be found in the eggs of 

 these four species which are not occasionally found in eggs of the Dunlin. 

 The ground-colour varies from pale green to pale brown and buff; the 

 underlying spots are few, obscure and grey, but the surface-spots vary from 

 rich reddish brown to nearly black ; they are sometimes, chiefly at the large 

 end, bold, and many of them confluent, but occasionally small and evenly 

 distributed over the surface. On some eggs the blotches are oblique, 

 resembling a common variety of the eggs of the Turnstone. They vary in 

 length from 1'4 to 1*2 inch, and in breadth from TO to -9 inch. 



As soon as the young are able to fly, which in this country is about the 

 end of July, they collect in large flocks and migrate to the coast to feed. 

 By September most of them have lost the greater part of their richly- 

 coloured first plumage, and have almost assumed the winter dress of birds 

 of the year. 



