The young have the tints more ashy; top of the head reddish or rusty, varied with longitudinal spots ; the ruddy colour which frames as it were the feathers of the upper parts less vivid ; tail terminated with bright ruddy.
In their summer or nuptial plumage the very old male has the face and eyebrows very pure white ; summit of the head and occiput blackish; nape and sides of the neck ashy ; feathers of the mantle and wings bordered with very deep ruddy ; on the breast a narrow brown band, succeeded by a large white cincture ; part below the breast and sides very bright ruddy ; middle of the belly deep black ; abdomen reddish-white. The female is of a ruddy colour on the sides often clouded with aeh-colorir ; black spot of the middle of the belly less apparent than in the male, or varied with white feathers.
This Is the Pluvier Guignard and I'luvier Solitaire of the French ; Piviere de Corrione and Piviere Tortolino of the Italians; Der Demme Itegenpfeifer of the Germans; Dotterel, Dotterell, and Dottrell of the British, and Milian of the Welsh, 'Dreyton sings, of this bird— " The Dotterel!, which we think a very dainty dbh, Wham taking make. such sport an man no more can wish; For as you ereepe, or eowre, or lye, or stoops, or gee, So marking you (with care) the apish bird doth doe, And acting everything, doth net er mark the net, Tilt he be In the snare which men for him have act." Poeta have a right, to a little licence, and In many of the older prose writers a similar account of the silly mimicry of the bird is given. "The Dotterel," asys Mr. Selby, "has always been considered a stupid bird, but for what reason I cannot conceive. I allow that, on its first arrival, it shows but little fear of man, but this, I apprehend, arises more front inexperience of persecution in its native wilds than front any other cause, and which appears evident from the birds, when harassed and repeatedly fired at, soon becoming too cautious to admit of near approach any longer. Their habits also contribute to render them unwary, for being nocturnal feeders (like many others of the Charadriada), they are at rest and asleep during the greater pert of the day, in which state also the Golden Plover (a wary bird when roused) will frequently admit cif a close approach. As to the story of
the Dotterel mimicking the actions of the fowler, by stretching out its leg, wing, or head, when he sets the example, it, without doubt, arose from the motions that they as well as other birds usually and most naturally make when roused from a state of repose; and which every one who attends to the habits of the feathered race must (in flocks of gulls, plovers, tringes, &c.) have frequently observed." The food con sists principally of insects, slugs, and worms. }'or a tong time it was doubted whether the Dotterel bred in this country, but these doubts are now removed, as the reader will find in the next paragraph. The rude nest is formed of lichens or moss, and the three or four lustreless olive-coloured eggs are sprinkled with largo dots and numerous spots of deep brown-olive.
Mr. Selby notices the Dotterel as particularly abundant in Northern Asia and the eastern parts of Europe, and as inhabitiug Siberia and the vast steppes of Tartary, frequently living in the vicinity of the salt lakes and marshes of that open region. He adds, that it is also found, during its winter migration, in Italy and Spain, and that the great body of these birds retires to the high latitudes of Northern Asia, Russia, and Lapland Alps to breed ; but the flocks which pass along the eastern coast of our island are supposed to limit their flight to the upland districts and mountains of Sweden and Norway. Temmiuck states that it breeds in the north of Russia; also in Norway on the great bare plateaux of the mountains, ruid in no greet number on the high mountains of Bohemia and Silesia at Ma elevation of from 4500 to 4S00 feet, In this country, Sussex, Hamp shire, Wiltshire, Berkshire, Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, and Northumberland possess it. Dr. Latham states that in tho elevated district of Bremner, Aberdeenshire, these birds hatch their young on dry mossy ground near to and ou the very summits of the highest parts, sometimes in the tufts of little short heather or moss. The female sits three weeks, and the young appear about the middle of July. Mr. Verret' exhibited eggs of this bird, belonging to Mr. Heysham, of Carlisle, obtained on Skiddaw in the summer of 1635.