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grey granite lay scattered over the surface. Its eastern and southern faces are rocky and pre- 

 cipitous, and favourite ground for Ptarmigan, of which species we found a nest containing three 

 eggs ; the female sat so closely that she allowed me to place my hand within two inches of her 

 beak before she fluttered off the eggs, and then took up a position some twenty feet off, watching 

 our proceedings. Her confidence was not betrayed ; for we did not take the eggs, and had the 

 pleasure of seeing her return to her nest before we had left the spot thirty yards. The nest of 

 the Ptarmigan is a very scanty affair, merely a small depression scooped in the moss, and lined 

 with a few blades of grass and a few feathers of the bird intermingled. 



" For many years past a single pair of Dotterels bred regularly on the summit of this moun- 

 tain ; but three years ago a gentleman during the shooting-season, out after Ptarmigan, and not 

 knowing the rarity of the species, killed the two old birds and their brood ; during 1871 and 

 1872 no Dotterel appeared on this hill; but as two pairs were known to have bred last year on 

 a neighbouring mountain, we had strong hopes that they might have returned to their old 

 breeding-ground. Nor were we disappointed ; for after traversing the top of the hill in line for a 

 short time, Harvie-Brown descried one of the birds, which rose not far from him, and flew past 

 me, quite near enough to reveal the rich chestnut on the breast. Marking the spot whence 

 the bird rose, the keeper and I proceeded on, leaving my companion hid as well as the nature of 

 the ground would permit ; after waiting above an hour the bird returned ; but, Harvie-Brown 

 failed to mark it to its nest. We then adopted the plan of beating the ground closely ; but, after 

 traversing several acres, we did not discover the object of our search. Again retiring to a distance 

 of half a mile, we gave the birds a respite of an hour or so. It was about four in the afternoon 

 when I was despatched to try my luck. Skirting the top of the mountain, I walked slowly to the 

 spot where we had a suspicion the nest must be, but from the opposite side to the direction we 

 had taken on last leaving. Lying down behind a small boulder, in a short time I noticed the 

 hen Dotterel threading her way amongst the mounds and hillocks, and crouching behind stones ; 

 when running, and when she suspected my eye was on her, her drawn-in neck and body bent to 

 the ground reminded me much of the gait of a Corncrake ; but from the anxiety she evinced, 

 and the way in which she circled round, sometimes to my rear and then again to my front, 

 always keeping a distance of some fifty yards from me, I felt convinced that I was close to the 

 nest. Moving off about a hundred yards, I lay flat on the ground; the bird seemed much 

 relieved, assumed an upright carriage, ran to the tops of the little mossy hillocks, looked around, 

 then picked up insects, or snapped at them on the wing. When she thought that the watcher 

 was quite misled, she again assumed a stooping gait; crouching to the ground she ran rapidly 

 behind a small grey stone, when I saw her settle. Now I felt confident that I had the nest. 

 Never taking my eyes off the spot, I was not long in getting over the intervening hundred yards ; 

 but until she rose from her eggs, within six feet of me, I could not recognize her from the 

 surrounding ground. She fluttered off her nest as if wounded, and remained calling within 

 twenty yards, the note somewhat like that of the Golden Plover, but much lower. The eggs, 

 three in number (the full complement), were deposited in a small hollow made by the bird in 

 the moss, without lining of any sort. Marking the spot with a handkerchief, I ran back to my 

 companions, and we all had the pleasure of seeing the bird leave her nest again, and the eggs 

 in situ. The eggs turned out to be deeply incubated. Owing to the similarity in the colour of 



