Ia the neighbourhood of Carlisle, Dottrels seldom -make
their appearance before the middle of May, about" which
time they are occasionally seen in different, .localities, in
flocks which vary in number from five ter fifteen, and almost
invariably resort to heaths, barren pastures-, fallow grounds,
&c., in.open and exposed situations, where they continue/’if
unmolested, from tèn days to a.fortnight, and then retire to
the mountains in theviginity of the lakes to- brèed/?$The
most favourite breeding-haunts/of these-birds are always
near to or on the summits of the highest mountains,*" particularly
those that are densely' covered with the woolly
fringe-moss, § '^nckostomuwC^ lanuginosum, Hedw., which;
indeed, grows more or less profusely on*nearly alLthe mést
elevated parts tat this alpine’'district:* In these lbfièly
plaees they constantly reside ytbe/whole of, the'breeding-
season, a considerable Ipart:of'ithe;time. ehvelopeiM-n clouds,
and almost daily drenched with? rain ’ andTwatting* mists, ?so
extremely prevalent in these I dreèry-regions and' there;can
be little-doubt that it is owing td* this peculiar ^ feature in
their economy, tha-fethey have remained" sudöhg.'in/èbscurity
during the period of incubation/ The Dottrel & by no
means'a solitary bird at "this timefas a fe wlpairs Susfal'ly
associate together,-and live/té alb appearance-, fn the'greatest
harmony. /Tbesé/biiéte-fdo* not make/’any < nést,' but-Tdeposit
their eggs, which seldom-êxcedd three in .number, intahl-Biall
cavitylon dry ground covered with’Végetatidh, 'an&■ géöëi^ly
near a moderate-sized stone,* or fragment’ of htojsk.d rip'-early
seasons old females will occasionally' beginto lay their
about the-26th of May; but the "greater: part ^seldom §t>ih-
mencevbefore the-first-or second week i # dune, l i l t fyould
appear,’however, from theiMlovwkgnfacts/thatthey'vary; exceedingly
in this-respect. .Ontbe-.l9th;Tuly, itó s^ a perfect
egg was taken out of a female, which had been "recently
*■'t?-Th.e' favourite' breeding-stations of "fÊe;;Dottrefeare-/frequ'entry-^called
k ittle , places, ’ b y | h % g u l d ^ S ’:and
| | M r . P. Nicholson, -who haVbcen m the habit of ’exploring these
mojmtams for-t'he; last^h1A'yy:e^s;i and has^found È good *"inarny. Dötterels’ieggs,
th a t1 smittle ’ is merely'-a Cumberland-word meaning --felitety’yorS^ell-adapted??}
killed on Robinson; and on the 26th of May, 1834, I
received four Dottrels from Keswick, which had been shot
on Great Gavel [Gable] the day before, In the ovary of
one- of them I found an egg almost ready for exclusion/
being a difference of nearly eight weeks. So. great a 4*9*
crepancy in all probability is of yery rax*e occurrence ; ^ ye^, it __
will subsequently appear that eggs recently laid, and a young
bird, a few days old, were found on the same day, at no
great distance from each other. - finales assist., the
females .in ifie incubation of their |ggs. How long incubation
continues I bave hot been ablp t p ascertain ; but
I am inclined think that it rarely lasts much longer than
eighteen or twenty days/- A week or tjwo previous ijj> their
departure, they,'congregate in flocks, and continue together
until they finally leave this pountry, whi^ takpg place, some-
times during the latter part of August, at zithers -pot before
the beginning of September^ A few bhdsv no doubt are
occasionally spen afteiv thfe'ipeftld; but, they are either late
broods, or birds .'.that., are returning'from mere„ northern
latitudes. This autumn T visjied-se.veral - breeding-stations
on the 25th of AugUst/'Und again on-the 2nd of;September,
but in neither,instance could I observe a^ingl'e individual.
u,,‘t Anxious as I have bepnifor .several years ^past to procure
the-eggs of jfehe,-^Dottrel .for the. purpose. ,of adding un-
doubtedifpeeimens of. so rare an egg to my cabinet, -as
well asto prove beyond -;all doubt that, this, bird breeds in
Cumberland; Jyetat. was. not until the^present, year that I
had the - gratification .ofi accompliehihg an bbjict which I
have had s ° long ‘ hi view. After, repeated excursions
through the lake dlstfict this summer for-.the “express
purpose, I was so fortunate'as .»to . obtain th,eir eggs .in
two: different localities,t—namely/three, on Whiteside,(.cont
tiguous to Helvellyn, on the, 29th of .June, and two, op:the
Sth o f1 July on ^Robinson-,- in-the . vicinity of Buttermerei
The, former, had been..incubated .twelve*or fourteen; days^
the latter were- only:keeently laid; and, in; both, instances,
the birds were, seen to leave their eggs: one, on quitting
them,'immediately spread out its wings and tail, which, i t