THE DUNLIN. 
335 
surprised, she immediately rose with one of the young ones, 
either caught up, or clinging to her by its own instinctive 
efforts. Whether from a wish to remain as near as possible 
while the other was in danger, or from the additional weight, 
could not he ascertained ; hut her flight was short, and she 
alighted on a rock at no great distance. The remaining 
little one was with difficulty overtaken, as it ran with great 
activity and swiftness, although very young, being covered 
with down, and evidently not long hatched. Most of the 
little birds of this tribe make no regular 
nests, hut deposit their eggs, four in 
number, either on the hare sand, just 
beyond the high-water mark, or like 
the Dunlin, or Sea- Snipe, on the ground, 
among long grass and heather : ex- 
posed, as the eggs then are, both to 
weather and observation, the bird con- 
trives to place them so as to take up 
the smallest possible space; and this 
she effects by making them all meet at their smaller ends, 
which also taper more than most other eggs. 
The four little eggs, for they are much smaller than a 
Snipe’s, huddled in so narrow a compass, require a keen and 
accustomed eye to see them, and at the same time are easily 
covered by the parent-bird. Her affection for her young is 
not confined to them when unable to take care of themselves 
after hatching, hut is manifested when they are still in the 
egg; for, should a stranger disturb her, she will, instead of 
running or flying away in her usual manner, immediately 
affect lameness, or decoy him away from the nest by tum- 
bling over and over, as if in the last stage of weakness or 
decrepitude ; or, if actually found upon her nest, she will 
sometimes nobly persevere in sacrificing herself, rather than 
desert it. In two instances, amongst many, they were 
found to sit so close, that they allowed themselves to he 
lifted off their nests, rather than fly away. It is remarkable 
how much the same instinctive habits prevail in similar 
families of birds. Those who may not have had oppor- 
