OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 141 



nest is very slight, a mere hollow, scantily lined with a few bits of 

 withered herbage peculiar to the moor. It is generally made on 

 a tuft of herbage, or beneath the shelter of a clump of cotton- 

 grass, more rarely in barer situations, amongst short, wiry grass 

 and heath. The eggs are four in number, pyriform, buff of 

 various shades in ground colour, boldly and richly spotted and 

 blotched with purplish brown and brownish black, and more 

 sparingly with gray. Most of the colouring is generally dis- 

 tributed on the larger end of the egg. They measure on an 

 average 2-0 inches in length by i'4 inch in breadth. Both 

 parents assist in the duty of incubation, which lasts sixteen to 

 twenty days. The birds are remarkably watchful at the breeding 

 grounds, and the sentinel bird quickly conveys the signal of 

 alarm to its mate, who slips quietly oif the eggs, and often 

 both rise into the air and wheel round and round above them. 

 Sometimes they run anxiously to and fro about the moor, 

 occasionally uttering a mournful note ; and as soon as the nest is 

 discovered they commence a series of antics to draw all attention 

 upon themselves. When the young are hatched these actions 

 are even more demonstrative. The young chicks, clothed in 

 yellow down, spotted and blotched with black, are quick enough 

 to conceal themselves at the approach of danger, and remain 

 crouching to the ground which so closely resembles their own 

 protective dress until all is still and safe again. Only one brood 

 is reared in the year. 



Diagnostic Characters. — Charadrius, with all the rectrices 

 barred and the axillaries white. Length, 10 to 11 inches. 



