DOTTEREL. 461 



25th of July, was completely covered with pen feathers, 

 and the belly, from incubation, almost entirely bare. The 

 stomachs I dissected were all filled with the elytra, and 

 remains of small coleopterous insects, which, in all proba- 

 bility, constitute their principal food during the breeding 

 season. 



" These birds, I understand, are getting every year more 

 and more scarce in the neighbourhood of the lakes ; and 

 from the numbers that are annually killed by the anglers 

 at Keswick and the vicinity, their feathers having long 

 been held in high estimation for dressing artificial flies, it 

 is extremely probable that in a few years they will become 

 so exceedingly rare, that specimens will be procured with 

 considerable difficulty. I have subjoined the names of 

 some of the principal mountains in this county on which 

 Dottrels have been known to breed, and I have also added, 

 as far as practicable, their elevation above the level of the 

 sea, under the idea that this information may prove of 

 some utility t naturalists who may hereafter feel inclined 

 to investigate the manners of this species in the same 

 district. The relative positions of these mountains may 

 be seen at a single glance, on referring to Greenwood's 

 excellent Map of the County of Cumberland. 



Feet above the Feet above the 



level of the sea. level of the sea. 



Helvellyn . 3055 Carrock Fell . 2110 



Whiteside Grasmoor . . 2756 



WhatsonDod Robinson . 2292 



Great Dod Gold Scalp . 1114 



Saddleback . 2787 Great Gavel . 2925 



Skiddaw . . 3022 



Those mountains whose elevations are not given, exceed 

 that of Carrock Fell." 



The Dotterel is said to breed on the Mendip Hills in 



