LIM100LÆ. CHARADRIIDÆ.
- EuD-ROMIAS MORINELLTTS (Tifnnmnft*.)^1
THE- DOTTEREL.
CharcCdriufi
EtrDBoaxis, Gi L. Brehm +.—Bill rather blender? compressed, (tan
the*head; naspjl fyxgm exfendingjabcwit^alf^^he length q$ the^npper
wlupkis hpmy,gm3. s^sltfl^dccurvigl. ’to JJip tip.( , Nqstrils. subbasal,- lateral,
linear: ^ Legs o r WderaS* ltengi£.'’ sCTrteM^ratfier^&le^'er, naked‘for albbort
distance above'lie tarsal joint. ;Toes*three only, all direct cd. ■ forward's*■. ^Ilfe
nnter and tjtg.^d^e^fiopnpcied at tjbp.^ase, by a slight ^ b * clavs short, curved,
sde^der>: ^ a i l ^ a th |r Jong, ^ g h t ly romided. Wings of moderate length,, v ^ ^ e d ;
the first quM-feather the ^longest; the jnnej ^epo^afies verygmarlyias long as
the primaries.^'
The Dotterel^ s only a summer, visitort<j| this country,
making its appearance in the south-eastern? .bounties* of
England towards-the pnd of April, and does dnot’i-seem to
go in any numbers-far to the westward. §Ef' seldomfemakes
- ? OhwradnM» Morvnellm; Iannaana^ Syst>Xat*^Hdr 12, 254 (17G6)f'
t Handb. Sk lg w ^ lgg. Dentscblands,^p. 544 ^18.31)^.
its appearance in Cornwall and Devonshire, and but little
oftener in Dorsetshire. In Wiltshire, Berkshire, I Sussex,
Hertfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Suffolk, and Norfolk, small
flocks, or “ trips” as they are called; nf Dotterel are seen in
the spring on their way to their breeding-ground, which, in
many instances, is very far north, and those or others are again
seen in the autumn on their return, their numbers then reinforced
.b y the addition of the. young, birds of.the year.
On the chalk hills about Royston on thé borders of Hertfordshire
and Cambridgeshire, these birds havé been observed
for many years1" tó make their appearance during the last
week of iApril and the first week im May; -they are seen .for
a b o u t ten-days, some probably moving onto the. northward,
and their places being, supplied for a time .'by other, arrivals
from '.the south; but during the past fifty years there has
been a gradual and marked diminution in their numbers in
the above locality, partly* owing td;;enclosuré. They are
found generally on the fallows, or newly-ploughed lands
near the edges of the downs, or nheep-r walks, where they
appear to feed on worms, slugs, insects, and:their larvae.
From these counties Ithe. birds pass ten to more northern
localities, and are-seen in Suffolk? Norfolk, Lincolnshire,
Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Westmoreland, Cumberland,
Nörthumberland, and various parts of Scotland,-always
inhabiting f high • ground: In the neighbourhood,^of the
English? lakes i t 'is. believed that a few; pairs still nest,
although in numbers sadly diminished since .the late T. C.
Heysham contributed the following, and now classic, account
of the*habits of this spepiesl-atits breeding-ground* :-^:
“ I will now n a rra te ,s a y s this.-gèntleman,/“ as succinctly
as .-possible, what has .fallen under, my own
vation relative ‘to thé habits and- economy of this bird.
HH p i ^ d p a l ^ É ^ W ^ e ^ è - . o f ’tlie Dotterel IjIh eL ak e distant hav®
MÊÊÊÈÊÊÈÈM fat. its'feathers for local jgggg aad^he
-temptation .offeredîtethe nnnerS-by.the preAénçÿm' their- immediate vicmtyM
‘bird;so good to.eat, of iH B |to fetch'||g |§ | th^y.-dreeser The
groed of the oinitholo^t oViof Æ^g^ecaieetpresd-ffiften;stigmatized, has, m
this casé; excised' n6?app*reMbfe effect-,upon its numbers, g