-trailed on the ground a short distance, and then #ent
away without uttering a single note. On this day, 5th
of July, 1885, a young bird, a few days old, was : also
captured.
“ Having spent a'.considerable" portion of several-days on.
Kobinson, in company with a very' able Assistant, -searching
for the eggs of: the Dottrel, I had, of'"course, ample opportunities
of observing their manners1 ;• and I fiatt*er*myself
that the following particulars will, be interesting/to^some Si'
my ornithological readers. /On- the, .3rd of July* We/found
three or four pair near , the most' elevated ' -part io£*$his
mountain; and on all our: visits thither, --whether early in
the morning or late in the afternoon, the great#? part Jeere
always seen - near the same place, sitting' on the ground.
When first discovered,^they,-permitted us to approach within
a short distance, without showing’ any- symptoms of
alarm ;a n d • frequently afterwards,' when -within a few? paces,
watching, their movements, some would'-move rslowly-about
and pick up an insect, others would remain " motionless,* now
and then stretching out their-wings, and a few-would oecasionally
toy with each other, at the same time uttering a few r
low^nofes," which had some resemblance' to those ~ of the
Common Linnet. In short1, they appeared to be so very indifferent
with regard to Our presence, that at last my assistant
could not avdid--exclaiming/~‘ What"stupid birds these are!’
The female that had young; nevertheless, evinced considerable
anxiety for their safety, whenever we came near the'
place where they were concealëd, and as long as we remained
itf the vicinity constantly-flew to and fro above us, uttering
her note of Marm.. -
. “ As sóOn a s 'the "young birds were fully feathered, two
were killed for'the purpose of .examining théir plumage in
this- -state-; and "we found that-' after they had been fired at
once'or twice, they became more wary, and eventually we
had shine' Mttle" difficulty-pr approaching sufficiently near
tó'Zhfiect óur purpose. >The**mMft appears to commence?
somewhat early in ^old-birds; a male that /v^as' killed cur
thel25th oMfuly was' completely covered' with ?pen-feathers,
and the- bel'lyj -from JhMb'atioh, almost-erftitely bare.. The'
Stomachs I dissëcfed: werehhlL fille'd‘dw$th 'the - êlyé/HW} and
rem&ln's of- small coleopterous^ ‘inWcfi, which,--in- all proba-
bilityf|Wnstitute their principal foot* during' thé breeding
season.'*'’-'
i ^ ^ e 's e birds,^understand,"are getting every'year m o «
and" more ' scarce -in the neighbourhood of the la k e s a n d
fr'om: the- number that are annually killed by the anglers
at^ffeswick" aid -thef vicinity^—their/feathers/ having’ long
héén-held in high estim ation -'for dressing artificial flies
isiktremely probaMte/fhat 'in a few years théy^^illjiecomè
so-SlxceMihgly5 rafcë;* <’tha%;' specimens will be procured with
considerable 5diffiG'ulty^-^(Chaliféh#orth,B Mag. Nat. /Hist.-,
3f 0 ^ 8 0 ^ ^ '
The maximum number appears to be three : at
least' four must he of rare :Jöcöürrèhce, and in records furnished
tfö^herEêlfor- extending from 1849' to 1874 the former
I iAdÉ^siomadh’of a bird^sbot in Lincolnshire'on«^pMay, Mr.'Hating
found remains of \eoleopterav' fog®.' wire worms, wings of diptera, 'larvae of lepi-
dopte^*^fo&^2mtóï^^small partioleg of,igri|;;.,and another killed on.^th May,
in Cambridgeshire^ contained sixty-three- wjreworms and two beetles.