62 



were evidently migrants from the south, and were resting probably for an hour or two in the 

 course of their journey northwards. 



" Mr. Mitchell, of Aberdeen, has sent me in the flesh the Curlew-billed Sandpiper from near 

 the mouth of the Don, where it appears to be a well-known visitant ; and, in connexion with the 

 same county, I have been assured by Mr. Stuart Burnett, of Keith Hall, that he has met with the 

 bird in a marshy spot in the parish of Kinellar (long since drained) on the 30th May, 1852. 

 'At the time,' writes Mr. Burnett, ' it seemed to have young near, as it fluttered along the ground 

 in a decoying way, dragging its wings. The same year I saw one or two others in some wet 

 localities near Kintore and Echt, but have not met with the species since in these parts.' 



" Mr. Burnett has also sent me word that he discovered a nest of this Sandpiper in a tract 

 of sedgy bog round the Loch of Spynie, near Elgin, on 8th June 1853 ; it was placed in a tuft of 

 marsh grass, from which the bird fluttered out at his feet, ' rolling, tumbling, and uttering 

 strange cries.' The eggs were four in number, and in course of being hatched, the shells being 

 chipped by the bill of the young bird." With regard to these statements by Mr. Burnett, I must 

 say it appears to me that he must have made a mistake ; for it seems in the highest degree 

 improbable that this Sandpiper has ever bred in Great Britain. Dr. Saxby writes that in 

 Shetland it is "a pretty constant autumn visitor; the numbers in which it arrives, nevertheless, 

 vary considerably. It usually appears early in September, mingling freely with Dunlins and 

 Ringed Plovers, at first seeming partial to low meadows and freshwater lochs, even when some 

 distance inland. Only a very few are met with in spring, though occasionally one or two may 

 be seen about the end of May, with the summer plumage in an advanced state ; but there is no 

 reason to suspect that it ever remains to breed. A very beautiful male specimen of this bird was 

 brought to me on the 7th of June 1859 by a fisherman, who caught it sitting on the water about 

 twenty-five miles north-west of Unst. He said that as the boat rowed up he merely laid the 

 blade of the oar upon the bird, and drew it towards him. The weather was perfectly calm at 

 the time. The note is something like that of the Dunlin, but it is easily recognized ; the voices 

 of the two species blend together pleasantly enough upon the beach at night. The Curlew 

 Sandpipers retire late, and are generally also the earliest birds upon the beach, — that is, when by 

 themselves ; for as soon as they mix with the Dunlins they seem to cease thinking of their own 

 movements, leaving themselves entirely under the direction of their new friends. It is nearly 

 always easy to get near them, except, perhaps, when a Redshank condescends to associate with 

 them ; and then the getting within eighty yards is next to an impossibility upon open ground. 

 At high water they will resort to stubble-fields near the sea, not for the purpose of feeding, but 

 for repose ; and at these times they are so little upon the alert that I have almost walked into 

 the flock, as much to my own surprise as to theirs ; for no sign of a bird was to be seen until 

 those nearest me took wing. I once winged a Curlew Sandpiper from a mixed flock ; and as it 

 fell upon a small shingle bank surrounded by the water, about a dozen of its own species, 

 separating themselves from the Dunlins, alighted upon the shingle and began feeding; and 

 when I threw stones over them, wishing to drive the wounded bird into the water, so that it 

 might drift ashore, the only effect was to cause them to crouch down as if a Hawk was passing 

 over ; and it was not until I had waded within a few yards of them that they flew off and rejoined 

 their late companions." 



