382 DOTTREL: Clafs n. 



color ; but immediately above that is a line of white, 1 

 feparating that color from the olive color of the neck. 

 The belly (in the male) is black : thighs and vent- 

 feathers white: legs black. 



Thefe birds are found in Camhridgejhire, Lincoln/hire 

 and Derby/hire: on Lincoln-heath, and on the moors 

 of Derby/hire they are migratory, appearing there in 

 fmall flocks of eight or ten only in the latter end of 

 April-, and flay there all May and part of June, during 

 which time they are very fat, and much efteemedfor 

 their delicate flavor. In the months of April and 

 September they are taken on the Wiltjhire and Berk/hire 

 downs j but where they breed, or where they refide 

 during winter, we have not been able to difcover. 

 They are reckoned very foolifh birds, fo that a dull 

 fellow is proverbially called a Dottrel. They were 

 alfo believed to mirnick the action of the fowler ; to 

 ftretch out a wing when he ftretched out an arm, 

 &c. continuing their imitation, regardlefs of the net 

 that was fpreading for them. 



To this method of taking them, Michael Drayton 

 alludes in his panegyrical verfes on Coryate's Crudities, 



Mod worthy man with thee it is even thus, 

 As men take Dottrels, fo haft thou ta'en us ; 

 Which as a man his arme or leg doth fet, 

 So this fond bird will likewife counterfeit. 



At prefent, fportfmen watch the arrival of the 

 Dottrels, and fhoot them ; the other method having 

 been long difufed. 



VI. The 



