236 The Ring-dotterel. [CHAP. XIII. 
suitable localities round the loch. Among the remaining 
birds were several specimens of the skua, coots, water-hens, 
swifts, and several kinds of swallows. The whimbrel, green- 
shank, water-rail, pied wagtail, roseate tern, and water-ouzel 
also frequented the neighborhood of the loch, but did not 
breed there. 
In an account of “The Birds of Strathbeg,” which Ed- 
ward afterward published in the Waturalist, he mentioned 
the curious manner in which the ring-dotterel contrives to 
divert attention from her nest. 
While strolling along the sands in the month of July, a 
friend who was with him fired at a tern. Without know- 
ing what he had fired at, Edward saw a ring-dotterel before 
him, which, he thought, must be the bird. It was lame, 
and dragging its wing behind it as if it had been sorely 
wounded. It lay down, as if dead. Edward came up, and 
put his hand down to secure it. The bird rose and flew 
away. Then it dropped again, hobbled and tottered about, 
as if inviting him to pursue it. “I stood a few seconds,” 
says Edward, “considering whether I would follow or not; 
then off I started, determined to have it. Away went the 
bird, twiddling and straddling, and away I followed in hot 
pursuit. Round and round the sand-hillocks we scrambled 
until I was perfectly wearied. Nothing but the novelty of 
the affair could have kept me in pursuit of the wounded 
bird. 
“Tn this way we continued, until I saw that I could make 
nothing of it by fair means; so I doubled round and met it 
fair in front. I was about to take hold of it, when, to my 
amazement, it rose and flew. Its flight, however, was of 
short duration, as it again suddenly dropped down, and lay 
on the sand as if dead. ‘You are mine now at last,’ said I, 
as I observed it fall. I accordingly proceeded to take it up, 
in order to put it in my pocket. But, lo! it rose again and 
flew away; when once more it suddenly dropped behind 
one of the larger hillocks, It was a beautifully marked 
