254 BIRDS OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND. 



In autumn, sometimes as early as the last week of July, 

 immense flocks of Golden Plovers congregate on the Ayrshire 

 coast, and alight on the stony parts of the beach near Girvan, 

 and also on the shores of Loch Ryan in Wigtownshire. It is, 

 indeed, impossible to estimate their numbers, as they literally 

 cover many acres of ground. They seem partial at these times to 

 the wet rocks and sandy patches exposed at low tide, and particu- 

 larly the flat ridges covered with yellow seaweed, which assimilates 

 so closely to the dorsal plumage of the birds as to render their 

 detection, when at rest, almost impossible. Similar, or even 

 larger, flocks of Plovers are well known to coast shooters in all 

 parts of Britain, who profit largely by their habit of packing. 

 Mr Thompson, in his work on the Birds of Ireland, speaks of 

 eighteen having been killed at one shot out of a flock of seventy or 

 eighty; and further, that one hundred and eight Golden Plovers 

 were bagged on 22d January, 1848, at one discharge. The late 

 Professor Wilson, in his "Recreations of Christopher North," 

 would assuredly have classed such a gun with the famous flint 

 weapon of his boyhood, which he so graphically describes as an 

 "awfu' scatterer." 



THE DOTTEREL. 



CHARADRIUS MORINELLUS. 



Amadan mointich. 



WHATEVER may have been the numbers of Dotterel that visited 

 North Britain in by-gone years, it is now certain that comparatively 

 few frequent the well-known resting places occupied by the migra- 

 tory flocks thirty years ago. On consulting the old parish records 

 published towards the close of last century, I find that most of 

 the compilers had to some extent a personal knowledge of the 

 bird. In 1792, the minister of Carrnylie, in Forfarshire, wrote as 

 follows: " The Dotterels, birds of passage, alight on the rising 

 grounds about the beginning of April, continue here about three 

 weeks, remove to the Grampian Hills, about twelve miles to the 

 northward, and revisit this parish about the beginning of August. 

 After abiding here about three weeks, they fly off to the south- 

 ward, and are not seen till the first of April following." Two 



