176 STANAVIALACHTA REVISITED 



Then they came to me and did the same. They were so 

 demonstrative that I felt perfectly certain of finding the 

 nest, and shot at the female. She dropped in the middle 

 of a wet bog. I then shot the male, walked up to him, 

 and left him with my basket and gun to struggle through 

 the bog to pick up the female. Before I got up to her, I 

 saw her lying on the turf on her breast with her wings 

 slightly expanded. I was just preparing to stoop to pick 



MOSQUITO VEIL 



her up, when she rose and flew away, apparently unhurt. 

 I must have missed her altogether, as she was evidently 

 only shamming to draw me away. I returned to search 

 for the nest, and was unable to find it. Whilst I was 

 looking for it Harvie-Brown came up; so I gave up the 

 search, and we again turned towards the boat. When 

 we had got about halfway towards the spot where Harvie- 

 Brown had been looking, I caught sight of a young grey 

 plover in down, almost at my feet. Stooping to pick it 

 up, I saw the nest with three eggs not a yard from me. 



