456 CHARADRIIDJl. 



Devonshire and Dorsetshire. In Wiltshire, Berkshire, 

 Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, and Norfolk, small 

 flocks, or trips as they are called, of Dotterel are seen in 

 the spring on their way to their breeding-ground, which, 

 in many instances, is very far north, and those or others 

 are again seen in the autumn on their return, their numbers 

 then reinforced by the addition of the young birds of the 

 year. On the chalk hills about Eoyston on the borders of 

 Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire, these birds have been 

 observed for many years to make their first appearance in 

 each season by the 20th of April ; they are seen for about 

 ten days, some probably moving on to the northward, and 

 their places being supplied for a time by other arrivals 

 from the south. They are found generally on the fallows, 

 or newly ploughed lands near the edges of the downs, or 

 sheep walks, where they appear to feed on worms, slugs, 

 insects, and their larvae. From these counties the birds 

 pass on to more northern localities, and are seen in Lin- 

 colnshire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Westmore- 

 land, Cumberland, Northumberland, and various parts of 

 Scotland, always inhabiting high ground. They are gene- 

 rally seen in these northern districts in May. Dr. Beck 

 of Copenhagen told me that the Dotterel pass the islands 

 at the mouth of the Baltic about the 1st of June, and dis- 

 perse over Scandinavia. Professor Nilsson mentions their 

 annual visit to Sweden : Mr. Hewitson saw some on the 

 ploughed fields of Norway ; and my friend Mr. Dann gave 

 me two eggs taken in that country. Linnaeus says they 

 are frequent in Dalecarlia and the Lapland Alps; and 

 they are known to go as high as the sixty-seventh degree 

 of north latitude. They are said to breed also in Russia, 

 Siberia, and Northern Asia. 



The best account of the habits of this species at its 



