HE L I ’ T OO OG STS REC ORD. Ed i te d b K EN NET H L I y . S K N NER . A LL HT S R E ER V RIG S ED . — Vol No . M ar h 1 1 923 . III [ c , OB S ERV AT I ONS ON T HE NEST ING OF T HE DOTT EREL ( Charadri us By NOR MA N GI LROY . In the course c f a short visit to the Grampians in the spring — — of the year 1 922 I had a somewhat interesting experience P of this charming and attractive lover in its nesting haunts , some l v 3000 feet above sea leve . I arri ed at my centre on the evening — of June lst a perfect summer day it had been throughout my u . i jo rney , hot and cloudless Within an hour of my arr val in - Inverness shire , however , the wind stole round to the north without ll m . warning an icy arctic mist crept along the va ey , and at p — — summer time a thick white blanket lay on the hills almost down to the road and to the Highland Line lying at their base . ‘ The l and morning broke dul cheerless , and , except that it was T e . h dry , without a single redeeming feature prospect of climbing to the high tops was , to say the least of it , uninviting , and we reluctantly determined that there was nothing for i t bu t to spend - the day along the river on the lower ground . Soon after mid day , h however , the mist seemed to lig ten a little , and we bore away to — n the foot hills to try our luck , striki g more by the labouring of chance than anything else the easiest and most gradual spur leading to The the wide and commanding plateau on the summit . points of n ll f ul the compass bei g we known to us , we had little di fic ty in the t making ascen , which was smooth , comfortable , and not - i n the l t . On i t ul east exhaus ing the other hand , was sing arly weird t and mys erious , as , although the cloud was not nearly so dense as l ll it had appeared from the road , one cou d not rea y see with certainty for more than a few yards ahead : a bou lder of quite modest dimensions seemed a towering precipice a startled sheep n all h a mo strous ghostly shape of unknown horror , and the w ile the Ptarmigan were croaking everywhere like unseen and gigantic frogs . Once an Eagle swept past us and di sappeared . On the u h i t n ur s mmit , which we reac ed w hout misadve t e , it A The M z arch 1 , ' was still and soundless the cloud lifted a little , gathered into curious ‘ the . B wreaths , sank again , white and clinging , to ground eyond the u pper brow of the spur by which we had mounted was an t fiat —4 u apparently limitless stre ch , , bare , and lifeless t ssocky in - places , with innumerable patches of small gravelly white stones a desolate region of gray moss and harsh short grass . — b t Here we stopped for a little took our earings , s epara ed , An then decided i t was hopeless . d at the very moment of our decision a Dotterel fluttered at my feet ! Immediately I stood quite still and looked round me . The little creature was behaving the all in most piteous fashion , running backwards and forwards , l round me and sometimes actua ly between my feet , her wings , h u drenched wit the mist , trailing on the ground and her bea tiful - ll white tipped tail spread out like a fan . A the time she cried — a distressingly plaintive , querulous squeak of utter abandonment and misery . Presently I caught sight of the eggs a yard or so from where — l stood but even before I reached them the Dotterel had settled l herself quite comfortably on them , so that I had litera ly to lift her o ff . A t I - h I this point should like to observe t at , although have D l he throughout referred to this ottere as t female , I have no other The reason for doing so than a purely sentimental one . plumage was certainly very bright and the chestnut tints especially showy — ' and defini te but I afterwards met with so many birds in which every intermediate shade occurred that I should be loth to pro the v nounce an opinion as to the sex of a member of species , e en u at close quarters , without act al dissection . The nest was a small and very shallow depression on a fl at hu mmock of soil almost bare of vegetation, and beyond a scrap or b t two of moss and a few blades of grass , which had proba ly drif ed t t n n . there accidentally , had no lining or o her prepara io of any ki d The flat hummock lay between two patches of the white stones he h b n before referred to , and all round it t grou nd seemed to ave ee he e b n w . n t worn or washed quit bare of growth , possi ly by s o O ” c u n t whole , it was not su h a pict re as I had bee led to expec , t n and I was to a cer ain extent disappointed accordingly , eve t D t ’ although it was the firs o terel s nest I had ever seen . The h w u t t u three egg were , o ever , very bea iful , al ho gh to my t t t . surprise they had been incuba ed seven or eigh days , so hat ' ’ The Oolo zsts Record M arc /z l 1923 . 3 g , , ' thel ast week of M ay would appear to be the right datefor clutches of fresh eggs . On subsequent visits to the high hills we found six further nests D t of the otterel , and here it may be well to observe tha in one instance only was the nest on the slope below the actual summit perhaps 1 50 feet all the others were on the flats at the extreme the top . In no case was the behaviour of sitting bird at all similar the to that of first one , and it may be of interest to describe shortly f e e D t . O th t how each otterel behaved at the nes course , wea h r ' n bu t may have affected i dividual birds to a certain extent , of this I cannot speak with confidence . The D second otterel (I use the singular advisedly , for in no single instance did we see the pair of birds) to come under our observation was first seen running very rapidly on a smooth stretch the of short , wiry grass and moss well towards northern end of the — 3rd — . The b t bu t plateau day June was fine , righ and clear , w . h bitterly cold , ith a strongish wind from the east We had reac ed a te a . m . the top by a steep but greeable climb soon af r , and ' D of although the otterel had undoubtedly caught sight us first , I do not think she had been running about very long before I picked he her up . S appeared to be feeding in a desultory fashion A away . t always from us , but always on the alert times she would i disappear over a little ridge , only to reappear aga n a little further A . t away she was never still , and was obviously concerned h the bu t first we thought of searc ing methodically for nest itself , he soon gave up the idea and sat down to watch . Immediately t D u s ! otterel stopped , shook herself and started running towards When she had come within twenty yards of u sshe stopped abruptly l l and stood quite still for near v 1 2 minutes . I then decided to leave — c On‘ the task to my companion and rising , I walked leisurely and s pi c u ou sly away and right out of sight over the hill . In less than a quarter of an hour I heard a whistle , and running back found my companion at the nest - the Dotterel had flown from the egg and disappeared The 35 w n t nest was exactly yards from here we had bee sit ing , - and 1 5 first t about yards from where I had seen the bird , so tha off i t e . A s she must have run on s eing us come over the hill before , nl a t it was _o y shallow scrape in the hard bare ground , wi h no lining ’ . T whatever here was , perhaps , a little more vegetation , but l the th u . T u bb a ree eggs were fairly conspicuo s hey were r ed litt e , ' ’ e l M 19 4 Th Oo o i sts Record arch 1 23 . g , , w and n sho ed a good deal of polish , were , I imagi e , co nsiderably i ncubated . F to — t the rom this point we bore away the north eas , ground e —3 rising very gradually to its greatest altitud 087 feet . — On the flat directly below the C airn a very perfect piece of —we a - t D tt el ground came cross a li tle band of five o er s , all in remarkably bright and beautiful plumage and extremely tame .