DUNLIN. 381 



communication to Audubon, says, " About the middle of 

 April these birds betake themselves to the moors, in the 

 northern part of Scotland, and in the larger Hebrides, 

 where they may be found scattered in the haunts selected 

 by the Golden Plovers, with which they are so frequently 

 seen in company that they have obtained the name of 

 ' Plover's pages.' In the Hebrides, from that season until 

 the end of August, none are to be found along the shores. 

 The nest is a slight hollow in a dry place, having a few bits 

 of withered heath and grass irregularly placed in it. The 

 eggs are four in number. If, during incubation, a person 

 approaches their retreats, the male especially, but frequently 

 the female also, flies up to meet the intruder, settles on a 

 tuft near him, or runs along and uses the same artifices for 

 decoying him from the nest or young as the Plover or Ring 

 Dotterel. Towards the end of August, the different colonies 

 betake themselves to the sandy shores. On a large sand- 

 ford in Harris I have at this season seen many thousands 

 at once, running about with extreme activity in search of 

 food. This place seemed a general rendezvous, and after a 

 few weeks the host broke up and dispersed, few, if any, 

 remaining during the winter." 



Of this bird, near Tongue in Sutherlandshire, Selby says, 

 " we found it abundant upon the margins of all the lochs. 

 The nest is usually placed under the shelter of some tuft or 

 bush, removed a short distance from the usual water-line of 

 the loch." Mr. Harvie-Brown, however, considers it to be 

 very local in that county, and in the western district of Assynt 

 he only knows of one breeding-place. In the Orkneys and 

 in the Shetlands it nests in considerable numbers. In 

 Ireland the number of birds which remain to breed is some- 

 what limited, considering the apparent suitability of many 

 localities : the neighbourhood of Lough Conn and Bally- 

 croy, both in co. Mayo, may be cited ; but in autumn and 

 winter the species occurs in tens of thousands. 



The Dunlin breeds in the Fseroes, and also in Iceland, 

 leaving that island in October. In Norway it is very widely 

 distributed, breeding numerously above the Arctic circle : 



