•252 CHAJIADRIIDJE.
number has never been exceeded. Mr. Nicholson informs
the Editor that whenever- he h as' been told of a clutch of
four Dotterel’s eggs, they have invariably proved.'to he those
of the Golden. Plover. The nest is a mere shallow hollow,
pressed down,: not scraped, and- the eggs are placed points
inwards. They are of a yellowish-olive colour,-blotched and
spotted with brownish-black, and measure about 1*6 by
pH in.
In the time of Montagu, it appears passible that the Dotterel
may have bred on .the Mendip Hills ,in Somersetshire ;
'but there is no evidence that if does so gjf the present day,
although young birds are frequently shot there in September.
In Wales it is of very rare occurrence at any .season,, and it
is uncommon in- Shropshire, and, in. .fact, lanywhere:todshe
west of the Pennine range of bills., hi In the : Eastern
Counties, Dotterels occur on both . spring; and autumn
migrations; but in Lincolnshire,,!Mr'. J..Bordeaux informs
the Editor that, they are rare there vm/'the- return southwards.
In spring they- still pass with lole'rabMregu-larity,
although in far smaller numbers than formerlyand'they
are remarkable for their steady predilection for scertadn
restricted areas: even -visiting’the same fields year after
year.'- On their first arrival in the last week of April ;#iey
frequent the wolds- rfoana few days, after which they descend
to the-marshes on Hhe! Lincoln andr Yorkshire coasts, and
remain there till about the tend ofe the third .week i'll May,
when they leave^finr.their breeding-grounds. In Lancashire,
Westmoreland,' and Cumberland, ihe; «Editor is informed
that they make their earliestiappearancA-;on -theceea-fioast
marshes, and, thence - proceed to tha-higher grouiids. tit is
believed’ that a few pairs remain -to. breed ofi fthe ^lL^iat.
hills, along' \tfhi§h th e -s trip s ” pass'tim their way, northwards
in the spring-; and it appears-fprobable that on Stine
of the-unfrequented* Scotch mountain $l|t 'is more -numerous
than is- generally supposed^ Mr.., L , ?A.-_ Harvie-Brown and
-Major H. W. Eeildenldh&ie .-.furnished;.' -some.. int^egt'ing
details respecting the nesting^Of this species^on the borders
of'^Perth and Invernd§s^Priv N. H. :S^c;;Gla'sg6w, ii. pp.
237^241); Mr. Bateson fojmd it breeding in Koss-shire;
and Mr. D. Bruce has, recently published (Macmillan’s
Mag. 1881, p; 347) an account of finding its nest on the
Grampians, whence, many years,.-ago, the,-Author obtained
an^eggr S probably.,breeds:4n several. other counties in
Scotland, and,in tie , Orkneys, where the nest was found in
1850 ; but to the Shetlands - it is., only a rare visitant. In
Ireland the: Dotterel is certainly uncommon, and of late
years there has' been no-evidence to. strengthen. Thompson’s-
supposition that it m i g h t y found breeding upon the
mountains, (of Tipperary, - ‘ • ,
g Dotterels, arewell known as-most excellent-birds tor the
table; those‘^ h a f in spring and .autumn are sent to the
London market used to find ready sale .m e n or eight
shillings a couple., sThe.y;were, m ° p nunaeronu than usual
tbtere3duikig the.spring of the year 1845, when the Authqr-
countedfI. seventeen; qouplo, at dhe sho;p;ieL.a poulterer at
one >timo. " yThqir sale during; ^ l^ tim -e , being now prO-
hi>i,ted7by law, it,is,, to., b^hQpedithat, with protection
afforded ihein.un the spring migration,,their)numbers may
increase. . ,
f Outside the British., Islands-th.e Dotterel,has been observed
in-Novaya* ZgndyX,;and>asypetiiaps, occurred as a strag-
glerVin Spitsbergen., numbers on
the-Bells of Norway- and %§d£?ti ^nd in^gp^e\parts of tfie
Ur£mountains<; W W n W W a
the, exception B the highlands e-f Btyria, Bohemia,-aud
f^nsyivania, on wfei4 its>gggs and y o u flgA ^ e e ti taken •
it appears to^be only a migrant. -'OmAflgust 22nd,
a^outhjwe&t wind, a great many ^ s s g d # e .island qf Heligoland^
and,-on September *#h a dock, «going ; from ep f 4q*
wgsti toph-ten minutes to pass.^djporthern Africa, Egyp y
anip-alestine, which, appear to constitute its principal wip er
quarters,^its-numbers, according; to M B J l j s ^ ^ a r e
I m M m It has.Qqcprred in, M l B an4 M ran^
through Turkestan, ; §ibW> breeding r'on^^Byrranga
B B B B B B I Taimyr. Peninsula, m B B B B B m
the ei'^ated g round^edJ|-the wafprj,pf the Irkut,descend.