334 



THE DOTTEREL THE STILT. 



THE DOTTEREL. 



The length of the Dotterel is about ten inches. The bill is not 

 quite an inch long, and is black. The forehead i<s 

 mottled with brown and gray : the top of the head 

 is black ; and over each eye there is an arched lind 

 of white, which passes to the hind part of the keck 

 The cheeks and throat are white: the back and 

 wings are of a light brown, inclining to olive, eacn 

 feather margined with pale rust-color. The fore 

 part of the neck is surrounded by a broad band of light olive-color, 

 bordered below with white. The breast is of a pale dull orange ; the 

 middle of the belly black ; and the rest of the belly and thighs are of 

 a reddish white. The tail is olive brown, black near the end, tipped 

 with white ; and the outer feathers are margined with white. The 

 legs are of a dark olive. 



These birds are migratory; Dpearing in flocks of eight or ten, 

 about the end of April, and continuing all May and June, when they 

 become very fat, and are much esteemed for the table. 



The Dotterel is in its manners a singular bird, and may be taken by 

 an extremely simple artifice. The country people are said sometimes 

 to go in quest of it, in the night, with a lighted torch or candle ; and 

 the bird, on these occasions, will mimic the actions of the fowler with 

 great archness. When he stretches out an arm, it stretches out its 

 wing ; if he move a foot, it moves one also ; and every other motion 

 tt endeavors to imitate. 



THE STILT, OR LONG LEGGED PLOVER. 



The Stilt, though rare and accidental in its visits in the colder oli 

 mates, is riot uncommon in eastern Europe, 

 along the borders of lakes in Hungary, and in 

 the interior of Asia, where, as well as in 

 Mexico and Brazil, and sometimes in Ger- 

 many and France, it is known to pass the 

 period of reproduction. In Egypt, where it 

 arrives in October, it probably passes the 

 winter. According to Temminck, it was 

 known to riest in the marshes near Abbeville 

 in 1818, but their general resort for breeding 

 is in the vast saline marshes of Hungary 

 and Russia. Being a native of regions conti- 

 guous to the southern limits of the United 

 States, there is little doubt but that it visits 

 the whole shores of the Mexican Gulf. Its 

 habits are altogether maritime, and it is said 

 to feed on the spawn of fish, tadpoles, gnats, 

 flies and other aquatic insects. The legs of this bird are remarkably 



1X>NO-LEOOD FL07KB. 



