DOTTEREL. 131 
DOTTEREL. 
EUDROMIAS MORINELLUS, Linn. 
Pl. XX, fig. 1. 
Geogr. distr.—Western Palearctic region, not occurring in the 
Oriental region; winters in Africa north of the Equator: in Great 
Britain it occurs more commonly in the eastern than the western 
counties of England, but its favourite haunts are the wilder parts of 
Scotland; in Ireland and Wales it is rarer. 
Food.—Yourg shoots of alpine plants, insects in various stages, and 
worms. 
Nest.—A mere depression in the ground. 
Position of nest.—Usually near to, or on the summits of high 
mountains amongst moss and other vegetation, and generally near to 
a fragment of rock or stone. 
Number of eggs.—3. 
Time of nidsfication.—V1-VII. 
This is a summer visitor to Great Britain, arriving in 
April or May, and leaving again in September; it is sup- 
posed still to breed (as formerly), though sparingly, in the 
mountains of the English lake district, in Perth and the 
north of Scotland, and in the Orkneys. 
Mr. Seebohm says that ‘“‘the eggs of the Dotterel vary 
in ground-colour from greyish buff to ochraceous buff, with 
sometimes the faintest possible tinge of olive, and are 
blotched and spotted with rich dark brown and with under- 
lying markings of inky grey. The surface markings are 
generally large, concealing a large portion of the ground 
colour, and are often confluent, especially on the larger end 
of the egg.” ‘‘ The eggs vary considerably in shape, some 
being almost as pointed at the large end as at the small, 
whilst others are pear-shaped.” ‘‘ The only eggs of a British 
bird at all likely to be confused with those of the Dotterel 
are certain varieties of those of the Arctic Tern, some of 
which are almost indistinguishable from those of the 
Dotterel, but the latter have fewer and smaller underlying 
markings.’ —(Hist. Brit. Birds, vol. ii., p. 33.) 
According to Mr. Heysham’s account, which has been 
copied into almost every book on British Birds, the eggs of 
this species may be found fresh both in June and July. 
The egg which I have figured was selected for that 
purpose by Mr. H. Dresser from his series, as being typical. 
