August, 1885.] 



AND OOLOGIST. 



127 



two broods in the season. Tlicir nests are very 

 pretty, consisting in this case of small twigs out- 

 side, then tlie soft downy wool of the willow- 

 catkin, and then the snow-white lining of "ryper"- 

 fealhers. When the palc-hlue eggs, with their 

 jnirple spots, arc laid in this, it is impossible to 

 conceive a prettier sight. After a long climb we 

 eventually reached the summit of a truly cliarac- 

 Icrislic Lapland fjeld ; nothing buta great rolling 

 waste of reindeer-moss, thickly strewn with grey 

 Ijoulders and stones and occasional patches of 

 snow. It seemed to be a real paradise for the 

 wild and solitary Dotterel. On looking over a 

 ridge, we saw a grey-looking bird get up and 

 quickly disappear behind a knoll. On going to 

 the place, there lay the "triple clutch" character- 

 istic of the Dotterel, laid in a slight hole scratched 

 in the reindeer-moss, without any lining. Leav- 

 ing Trinus at the nest, I went after the bird, 

 which kept running in front of mo, and eventual- 

 ly rose, uttering a deep croak-croak, which I 

 never heard afterwards. After a considerable 

 chase I procured her, and returned to the nest. 

 The eggs were hard sat. During the course of 

 to-day I saw many Dotterel. Once, when lying 

 resting, I heard a low pipe, and on looking 

 round saw the fine chestnut breast and white 

 eycstrcak of a Dotterel, which was sitting on a 

 stone close to us. We did not move, and pres- 

 ently two others came running up. Golden 

 Plovers swarmed, and the notes of the two could 

 be well compared ; that of the Dotterel is similar 

 to, l)ut not nearly so loud as, that of the Golden 

 Plover. Once I watched a Dotterel running 

 about, till at length it sat down, and I felt sure it 

 was on the nest. Approaching quietly, I got 

 within six feet of her, when I perceived that the 

 bird had gone to roost ; her eyes were shut and 

 slie was fast asleep : it was a very pretty sight. 

 On looking at my watch I found it was midnight. 

 Seated on the top of a high fell, some twelve 

 miles from Pulmak, the view was superb. Far 

 as the eye could reach this wild country presented 

 a continuous scries of rolling hills, clad with 

 Birch to a certain level, the intervening morasses 

 being studded with numerous lakes and water- 

 courses, and in the liazy distance great snow- 

 mountains reared up into the yellow midnight 

 sky. The sun shone brilliantly, and, with the 

 exception of the occasional low pipe of the 

 Plover and Dotterel, or the lively chirrup of the 

 Snow Bunting, all was silent. Frequently, dur- 

 ing the course of the day, we observed small 

 parties of six or eight Dotterel running about 

 together ;' but they were wild and unapproach- 

 able, and I felt inclined to think that they could 



not be breeding. Some of the Dotterels which 

 we examined were far blacker on the crown of 

 the head than others; some had a grey crown, 

 but, witli this exception, I could note no differ- 

 ence in the plumage of the sexes ; the legs and 

 feet are yellow ; the irides hazel. As we tramped 

 home we remarked that the Birch leaves were 

 now nearly full out; only three days ago not a 

 sign of a leaf was visible ! 



June 3.5th. Temminck's Stints were just be- 

 ginning to lay now, and to-day we got two nests 

 with four fresh eggs each. I succeeded also in 

 getting a nest and four very fine eggs of the 

 Rough-legged Buzzard, considerably larger than 

 any I had got before, and quite fresh. A Lap 

 boy brought me a clutch of four fresh Wliimbrcl's 

 eggs ; they had a fine olive-green ground, with 

 few other markings, entirely confined to the 

 larger end. Rather contrary to our anticipations, 

 a heavy thunderstorm, with vivid flashes of light- 

 ning and deluges of rain, overtook us to-day. 

 The rain had a most invigorating effect on the 

 Birch forests, and in the afternoon, when an 

 almost tropical sun began to shine, the previously 

 imperfect exfoliation of the buds was completely 



developed. 



(To be concluded next month.) 



Brief Notes. 



A New Bird for Texas.— Li the O. and O. 

 for January, 1885, p. 5, Mr. Charles IL Marsh 

 describes a new species of Field Sparrow, 

 [Spizella wortheni,) from New Mexico. Mr. Ridg- 

 way has formally described the same, holding it 

 to be a valid species. 



Among the birds collected by Mr. Wm. Lloyd, 

 at San Angela, Texas, is one which Mr. Ridgway 

 pronounces to belong to this new species. So 

 Worthen's Sparrow may be added to the list of 

 Texas birds.— IF. W. Cooke. 



Curious Nesting Place. — It was recently 

 found necessary to repair the chimney of the Os- 

 born Mill, at Fall River, Mass., which is 125 feet 

 higli. In removing the casting and loo.sc bricks 

 Mr. Crow, the contractor, found a Sparrow's nest, 

 (Passer domestica,) which contained one egg. — 

 ,/os. M. Wade, Boston, Mass. 



Mr, Geo. H. Ragsdale, Gainsville, Texas, sends 

 us a double nest, about which he writes as fol- 

 lows ; "The two nests sent last week in the bunch 

 of mistletoe I take to be those of the Orchard 

 Oriole and Lark Finch, the latter built in and on 

 the former, probably after the Orioles had vacated. 

 The nests were placed in a Black Jack tree thirty 

 feet high."— i?««f?om Notes. 



