i68 
British Birds. 
THE ASIATIC 
DOTTREL. 
(Ochthodromus 
asiaticus.) 
The Asiatic Dottrel. 
THE DOTTREL. 
( Eudromias 
morinellus.) 
it with grass and leaves. The eggs are precisely 
similar to those of the Golden Plover, but are 
rather smaller, and measure about an inch-and- 
three-quarters to two inches. 
This species is distin- 
guished from the Sand-Plovers 
(sEgialitis) by its much stouter 
bill, and by the chestnut band 
across the chest in the summer 
plumage. In winter the chest is brown, but the 
young birds can always be told from our ordinary 
Ringed Plovers by their longer legs (tarsus 1*35 
inch). A specimen in summer plumage was shot 
in Norfolk, in May, 1890. The home of the 
species is in the Kirghis Steppes and Central Asia, whence it ranges into 
East Africa in winter. Both in its summer and winter home, it is an inhabitant 
of the steppes and grass-lands. 
This handsome little Plover is recognised by its white 
chest-band, black breast and abdomen, and orange-chestnut 
flanks. Although not so plentiful as in former years, the 
Dottrel is still found breeding on the moors of Cumberland 
and Westmoreland, and in the highlands of Scotland. It also breeds on the 
mountains of Scandinavia and Central Siberia as well as on the high ground of 
other parts of Europe. It is a wonderfully 
tame bird near its nest, and last summer 
(1897) I captured a young nestling on one 
of the high mountains of the Sundal Valley 
in Norway. The old bird did not attempt 
to fly away, but ran round us within a few 
yards, and finally led off its youngster in 
triumph when I let the latter go. The 
eggs are deposited in a hollow in the 
moss, and are three in number, of a greyish 
stone-colour, tinged with olive, and largely 
blotched with black, rufous, and grey ; 
the length is a little over one-inch-and-a- 
quarter. 
The present species 
THE KILL-DEER , , , 
DOTTREL. belongs to a little group of 
(Oxyechus Sand- Plovers, which have 
The Dottrel. vocif crus.) a long tail, measuring 
