﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  171 
  

  

  Family 
  CHARADRIIDjE. 
  

  

  Charadrius 
  morinellus 
  (£.). 
  Dotterel. 
  

  

  The 
  Dotterel 
  had 
  been 
  frequently 
  spoken 
  of 
  by 
  our 
  earlier 
  authors 
  

   on 
  British 
  Ornithology 
  as 
  commonly 
  seen 
  during 
  the 
  migration 
  

   seasons 
  at 
  certain 
  favourite 
  resting-places 
  upon 
  the 
  east 
  coast 
  of 
  

   Scotland 
  and 
  England, 
  but 
  Pennant 
  appears 
  to 
  have 
  known 
  nothing 
  

   of 
  its 
  occurrence 
  in 
  Scotland, 
  as 
  he 
  only 
  refers 
  to 
  English 
  localities 
  

   in 
  his 
  British 
  Zoology 
  (1778), 
  and 
  says 
  nothing 
  about 
  it 
  in 
  The 
  

   Caledonian 
  Zoology 
  (1777). 
  

  

  Colonel 
  Thornton, 
  however, 
  met 
  with 
  them 
  on 
  the 
  Grampians 
  

   in 
  pairs, 
  and 
  conveyed 
  the 
  information 
  to 
  Montagu 
  (fide 
  Fleming, 
  

   1828), 
  but 
  Montagu 
  in 
  the 
  1833 
  edition 
  speaks 
  of 
  his 
  having 
  him- 
  

   self 
  ' 
  met 
  with 
  pairs 
  on 
  the 
  mountains 
  of 
  Scotland, 
  sufficiently 
  late 
  

   for 
  breeding' 
  (Rennie's 
  edition 
  of 
  Orn. 
  Dictionary, 
  1833). 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  no 
  mention 
  of 
  the 
  Dotterel 
  within 
  our 
  area 
  in 
  the 
  

   old 
  Statistical 
  Account 
  (1791), 
  but 
  that 
  useful 
  old 
  work 
  has 
  notices 
  

   of 
  it 
  close 
  to 
  the 
  boundaries 
  both 
  in 
  Dee, 
  near 
  Alford 
  (vol. 
  ix. 
  

   p. 
  108), 
  and 
  in 
  Forfar, 
  at 
  Carmylie 
  (vol. 
  i. 
  p. 
  437), 
  and 
  speaks 
  of 
  

   it 
  as 
  a 
  bird 
  of 
  passage. 
  Selby 
  only 
  follows 
  the 
  earlier 
  quotations, 
  

   but 
  though 
  he 
  shot 
  a 
  Dotterel, 
  ' 
  apparently 
  a 
  bird 
  of 
  the 
  year,' 
  upon 
  

   one 
  occasion, 
  and 
  quotes 
  Colonel 
  Thornton 
  as 
  also 
  having 
  obtained 
  

   a 
  bird 
  on 
  the 
  16th 
  August 
  (see 
  Sporting 
  Tour), 
  he 
  does 
  not 
  seem 
  to 
  

   favour 
  the 
  idea 
  entertained 
  by 
  Fleming 
  and 
  Montagu, 
  that 
  they 
  

   were 
  Scots-bred 
  birds. 
  Even 
  MacGillivray 
  does 
  not 
  speak 
  of 
  

   them 
  as 
  positively 
  nesting 
  amongst 
  the 
  hills 
  of 
  his 
  native 
  country, 
  

   and 
  quotes 
  at 
  length 
  'the 
  only 
  good 
  account 
  ' 
  of 
  its 
  nesting, 
  ' 
  derived 
  

   from 
  the 
  author's 
  own 
  observation,' 
  from 
  the 
  pen 
  of 
  Mr. 
  T. 
  C. 
  

   Heysham, 
  in 
  the 
  Mag. 
  of 
  Nat. 
  Hist. 
  (vol. 
  ii. 
  p. 
  295). 
  Yarrell 
  

   (2nd 
  edition, 
  vol. 
  ii. 
  p. 
  462) 
  says 
  he 
  had 
  an 
  egg 
  taken 
  on 
  the 
  

   Grampian 
  Hills, 
  and 
  very 
  accurately 
  describes 
  it, 
  but 
  only 
  quotes 
  

   our 
  previous 
  authorities. 
  In 
  the 
  latest 
  edition 
  of 
  Yarrell 
  (Saunders, 
  

   1884), 
  reference 
  is 
  made 
  to 
  the 
  finding 
  of 
  the 
  nest 
  and 
  eggs, 
  within 
  

   the 
  boundaries 
  of 
  Moray, 
  by 
  Feilden 
  and 
  Harvie-Brown, 
  referring 
  to 
  

   the 
  account 
  published 
  in 
  the 
  Pr. 
  N. 
  H. 
  Soc. 
  Glasgow, 
  ii. 
  pp. 
  237-241. 
  

   This 
  account 
  we 
  think 
  it 
  well 
  to 
  quote 
  fully 
  here 
  as 
  distinctly 
  be- 
  

   longing 
  to 
  our 
  faunal 
  area, 
  and, 
  with 
  the 
  exception 
  of 
  Selby 
  's 
  single 
  

   egg, 
  as 
  being 
  the 
  first 
  authenticated 
  and 
  carefully 
  identified 
  Scottish 
  

   nest 
  of 
  eggs. 
  This 
  must 
  be 
  our 
  excuse 
  for 
  quoting 
  at 
  length. 
  

  

  