THE STILT-WALKERS. 



17 



frosts, and little meadows of cotton-grass, white as the snow-wreaths that lie on the. hills. How 

 prettily they run over the grey moss and lichens, their little feet twinkling, and their full, bright, and 

 soft eyes gleaming as thev commence their attempts to entice us away from their chosen retreats." 

 The attempts to lure intruders from their nest, above alluded to, consist in a most excellent feigning 

 of being desperately wounded and unable to fly, or by affecting to have lamed a leg, and thus enticing 

 the enemy to follow the cunning bird, as it slowly retreats in an opposite direction to that occupied by 



/■-. 





. • / -J-) Mi 

 j 



the golden plover {Charadrius auratus), and the dotterel {JEudromias Morinelhts). 



its beloved progeny. When the young are able to fly, the Plovers associate in flocks, which remain 

 on the moors till winter begins, when they quit them for pasture lands. As the season advances, 

 and the cold becomes severe, they descend to the coast, and usually remain in the vicinity of the sea 

 during the winter. Occasionally they are so tame that, according to the authority above quoted, they 

 will allow a sportsman to approach within fifteen yards, and even walk around them several times in 

 order to drive them together before taking aim. " In windy weather," continues Macgillivray, " they 

 often rest by lying flat on the ground, and I have reason to think that at night this is the general 

 practice. In the Hebrides I have often gone to shoot them by moonlight, when they seemed as 



VOL. IV. 121 



