flaps, moving the wings with exaggerated slowness, owllike;
thence he quickens his pace and rising suddenly at an
abrupt angle, commences the song, the greater part of
which, however, is emitted as the bird falls again. During
the utterance of the song is a pause occurring after the
penultimate note, the performer throws himself sideways
almost on his back, instantly recovering himself with
a flurry of wings. The bird now scuds rapidly over the
ground at a moderate height, making a pronounced humming
sound with the motion of his sharply driven pinions, and
occasionally tilting himself from side to side, much in the
manner of a snipe when flushed.
The song is well rendered by Brock as _whey-willuchooee-willuch-willuch-
cooee_. The first syllable long and hoarse, the second and third
_willuch_ uttered rapidly and staccato, then a pause, during which
the partial somersault is executed, followed by the loud and musical
final note. The Norfolk marshmen’s transliteration is also good, “Three
bullocks a week, week after week.”
Sometimes two rival males will rise together in the air almost
perpendicularly each trying to rise above the other.
At intervals the upper bird stoops suddenly to the lower,
an attack usually avoided by an agile turn of the wing,
but occasionally a distant and hollow clap is audible,
indicating an exchange of blows apparently with the
wing. On at length parting company both combatants break
into full song flight, repeating it twice or thrice ere
resettling in their respective stations.
These encounters seem as a rule not to be of a very serious character
and the occasional fights between rivals carried on near the ground,
in which one bird swoops repeatedly from one side or the other at its
opponent, which in turn avoids the attack by little upward springs or
swerving aside, seem to be of a more serious character. When a hen
bird approaches, the male bird runs toward her and describes a half
circle round her with stiff and constrained air. Then he makes for
the nearest “scrape” and at once drops into it, working with furious
energy and occasionally dropping bits of straw over his shoulder.
At first the hen makes no response, but about a fortnight after the
beginning of the courtship she approaches the spot where he is at work
by indirect stages. The male then rises and steps forward, with his
back to the hen, slowly lowering his bill to the ground and raising
his tail perpendicularly, thus displaying his richly colored undertail
coverts. The female now settles into the “scrape” and imitates the
actions of the cock, but with less energy, the male meanwhile retaining
his strange uptilted attitude and collecting nesting material which
is jerked over his shoulder toward the “scrape.” When at length the
hen leaves the “scrape” the male reenters and sometimes the hen also
repeats the process. Coition takes place a few days before the eggs are
laid and immediately afterwards the hen works in the “scrape” with far
more energy than before, the male often taking his place in another
scrape. Both birds go through the ceremony of throwing bits of nest
material over the shoulder. No serious attempt is made on the part of
other males to interfere with a paired hen, and she on her part seems
to avoid any strange cock bird.
_Nesting._--Although it is usual for several pairs to breed in company
the actual nests are usually some distance apart, and nearly always on
slightly raised ground. They may be found on plowed land or on pasture
and occasionally moorland, and vary somewhat in size, some being
merely muddy hollows with a few bits of straw and bent, while others,
especially on grass lands, are fairly substantial edifices of dead
vegetable matter collected round the nesting “scrape” originally made
by the male.
_Eggs._--Normally four, but on rare occasions five, have been recorded,
and when a bird has been robbed twice, sets of three and even two or
one egg may be found late in the season. When the birds have been much
persecuted as many as 20 have been laid in one season by a single
female. They are pyriform in shape and lie in the nest with the points
touching one another. As a rule there is not much variation, the usual
ground color being stone color or brownish olive with black spots and
blotches chiefly towards the large end. Some eggs have the ground
almost hidden by dense black markings, and there are types in which
the spots are mainly replaced by short black lines. More remarkable
varieties are those in which the ground color in bluish white or some
shade of greenish olive, with scanty markings of black, and the rare
erythristic type in which the ground color is pale brick red or deep
red brown with rich red brown markings. This wonderful variation has
been recorded from Friesland as well as many parts of the British
Isles. The measurements of 100 eggs measured by the writer average 47
by 33.7 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure =58= by
32.5, 47.4 by =37.2=, =42.3= by 33 and 44.7 by =31.2= millimeters.
_Young._--Incubation is performed by both sexes, but much the greater
part by the hen, the male being on guard to give the alarm. Incubation
begins with the third or fourth egg and the period is as a rule 24 or
25 days, but in some cases is said to extend to 27 or even 28 days. The
adults are very bold and demonstrative when the eggs are chipping and
will even strike sheep or dogs. The young remain in the nest until the
down has been thoroughly dried and at first do not travel far afield,
crouching when the parents give the alarm. They can swim readily
and are led by the old birds from dry uplands toward water meadows.
Directly the young are able to fly they assemble into flocks. Only one
brood is reared during the season.
_Plumages._--The plumages and molts are fully described in A Practical
Handbook of British Birds, edited by H. F. Witherby (1920).
Ridgway (1919) says that the sexes are alike, and that he has been
unable to verify the supposed differences in the wing formula of male
and female. It is, however, easy to distinguish the sexes in life by
the shape of the wing of the male, which is, as described by Frohawk
and others, much more rounded in shape than that of the female.
_Food._--This consists largely of earthworms, mollusca (including
the large slugs _Arion_ and _Agriolimax_ as well as the smaller
snails, _Helix_ sp.; also during the winter months marine shell
fish, _Tellina_, _Bythinia_, _Physa_, etc.) and insects. This latter
family includes Coleoptera (_Otiorhynchus_, Carabidae, _Ocypusolens_,
_Aphodius_, _Agriotes_, various species of _Geodephaga_, etc.),
Diptera, including larvae of Tipulidae, Lepidoptera (many larvae
of moths such as _Noctua segetum_, _N. exclamationes_, etc.), and
Orthoptera. Vegetable matter is also eaten, but not largely. Seeds of
_Ranunculus repens_, _Polygonum aviculare_, and _Spergula_ have been
recognized, also fragments of seaweed (Algae) in winter. Spiders and
marine crustacea are also recorded.
_Behavior._--The lapwing is preeminently a gregarious bird. All
through the winter months it is to be met with in flocks, sometimes
of great size, and even in the breeding season it is rare to find a
single pair nesting out of sight and earshot of its neighbors. The
curious “wobbling” flight enables the species to be recognized at great
distances. Unlike some other gregarious species, such as the starling,
the lapwing is not expert in the art of simultaneous maneuvers and
it is a common sight to see a big flock rise together on the wing
and break up at once into two bodies moving in different directions.
Then gradually birds from the smaller body will gravitate toward the
larger flock and after a time the two will reunite, but there is a
lack of leadership and confidence in their movements which at once
distinguishes them from the smartly wheeling flocks of dunlins, knots,
or other gregarious waders. Sometimes a party of golden plover will
associate on the wing with a flock of lapwing, but here, again, the
difference is very striking.
_Enemies._--Probably the rook destroys more eggs and small young than
any other foe except man, but the jackdaw, hooded crow, and carrion
crow are all apt to devour the eggs. I have seen a sparrow hawk drop
from a tree onto a bird rising from its nest and bind onto it for a
time, but the lapwing broke free after a struggle. It is not uncommon
to find remains of birds on the feeding tables of the sparrow hawk near
a breeding ground. The peregrine also sometimes takes lapwing, but its
erratic tumbling flight renders it a difficult prey.
_Fall._--Ringing has proved that some of the British-reared birds find
their way to Iceland, France, and Portugal. In mild winters there are
always a considerable number of flocks in our southern counties, but
hard frosts or deep snow will cause them to move to the south coast or
to emigrate.
Although a most useful bird from the agriculturist’s point of view, the
lapwing is shot freely during the autumn and winter, chiefly by shore
shooters, while the demand for its eggs as delicacies has also been
detrimental to its status. In Holland the earliest clutches are all
taken for the market and this has had no injurious effect, as the birds
lay again and are then protected strictly.
DISTRIBUTION
_Breeding range._--Europe north to the Arctic Circle, the British
Isles, but only exceptionally in the Faroes, and not in Iceland. In
Finland to latitude 68° on the Muonio River and in Russia north to
Archangel. Southward it breeds in Andalusia and in the Balkan Peninsula
to Macedonia, but not in Greece or the Mediterranean Islands. Breeding
in Morocco requires confirmation. It also breeds across Asia east to
the Pacific, south to Transcaspia and Yarkand.
_Winter range._--Many birds winter in the British Isles, but on the
Continent they move to southern Europe and northern Africa, visiting
the Atlantic isles occasionally (Canaries, Madeira, etc.). In Asia,
Asia Minor, Palestine, Iraq, Persia, and north India, China, North
Burma, and Japan.
_Spring migration._--The northward movement of continental birds
depends much on the weather. In mild winters they have appeared in
Denmark in January and February, but the average date is about March
6. In Sweden the arrival is also irregular, from mid February to mid
March, but in south Finland not till late in March. In central Europe
the birds arrive as a rule on the breeding grounds early in March, and
the Mediterranean passage is generally over by the beginning of that
month.
_Fall migration._--Migrants from the north arrive at Gibraltar about
mid October, while in Malta the passage takes place in November, and
in Greece at the end of October. In Iraq they arrive from October 22
onward, but chiefly in early November.
_Casual records._--Greenland, occasional visitor (Julianehaab 1847;
Fiskenaes 7, I, 1820, etc.) Iceland; numerous records between September
and March; Labrador (Cartwright, January, 1917); Newfoundland, White
Hills, November 23, 1905 and recently (December, 1927); Nova Scotia
(Ketch Harbor, March 17, 1897); Long Island, New York (Merrick, 2
specimens, December 26, 1883 and Meccox Bay, Waterville, autumn 1905);
Bahamas (Hog Island, November, 1900); Barbados (December 24, 1886);
West Alaska (small islets in Norton Sound); Madeira (Machico, December
6, 1891, December 2, 1889, December 4, 1893, January 14, 1895, March
10, 1895, December 15, 1896, and November 28, 1897); Jan Mayen (30 on
April 8, 1883).
[AUTHOR’S NOTE.--The most remarkable occurrence of this species took
place during the fall and winter of 1927–28. A specimen was taken
on Baffin Island in October; and they appeared in large numbers in
Newfoundland (Bonavista) in December, where one man was reported to
have killed 60 individuals, one of which carried a band of British
Bird Magazine that had been attached in Cumberland, England, in May,
1926. Capt. Donald MacMillan reported them at Anatalok Bay, Labrador,
on December 22, and a specimen was obtained January 6, 1928, at North
Head, Grand Manan, New Brunswick.]
C. L. Whittle (1928) has suggested the following theory, as to the
possible cause of this unusual flight:
As to the cause of the movement of lapwings to Newfoundland
and the route taken, it is perhaps helpful to study
the Pilot Charts of the North Atlantic above referred
to. During the month of December, the 16th and 17th, a
well-developed cyclone of exceptional intensity had its
center well to the east of Spain, with a low pressure of
28.30 inches, and with accompanying strong southeasterly
winds from western Europe. These winds might easily have
been instrumental in driving lapwings to Iceland, five
to seven hundred miles distant, and to Greenland. Later,
polar winds and a search for food may have played important
parts in forcing a movement southwesterly to northern
Labrador, and then southeasterly, following the coast to
Newfoundland. Here, near the shore, snowless tundras, which
probably would furnish a food supply, may have existed,
even in December, with the result that the recently
scattered birds became gradually concentrated.[2]
[2] See also A Transatlantic Passage of Lapwings, by
H. F. Witherby, in British Birds, vol. 22, pp. 6–13.
_Egg dates._--March 2 to 19 (9 dates); March 26 to 31 (18 dates); April
1 to 14 (60 dates); April 15 to 30 (29 dates, probably including many
second layings); late date June 22. All the above from England.
EUDROMIAS MORINELLUS (Linnaeus)
DOTTEREL
_Contributed by Francis Charles Robert Jourdain_
HABITS
The claim of this species to a place in the American list rests on a
single occurrence at King Island, Alaska, on July 23, 1897.
_Spring._--The regularity of the appearance of the dotterel on
migration at almost the same spots year after year and approximately
about the same time in spring, has proved a great disadvantage to the
species, as being very tame and unsuspicious and much sought after, not
only as a delicacy for the table, but also on account of the demand for
its feathers on the part of fly-fishers, it was mercilessly shot on
the way to its breeding grounds in the north of England and Scotland.
The usual date of arrival was about the last week of April and the
beginning of May and little “trips” might be looked for annually at
certain favored spots along the route northward. Exceptionally early
arrivals have been recorded on March 25, April 4 and April 8, but these
are quite unusual.
_Courtship._--Owing no doubt partly to the inaccessible nature of its
haunts and also partly to its scarcity, there is nothing on record in
the literature as to the courtship of this bird. All writers are agreed
that the migrants which pass through England are in small flocks or
“trips” and are still unpaired. In 1922 I was on the high field of West
Finmark and there was still a great deal of snow about, but here and
there islands of gray rock stood out from the snow field. Here we met
with dotterel in fair numbers, evidently pairing and house hunting.
They shared the ground with a few snow buntings and ptarmigan, and it
was obvious that already certain spots had been selected for breeding.
Sometimes three birds would be seen wheeling round a bare patch of moor
and rock and freely uttering their courting notes, which reminded us of
those of the ring plover. We saw nothing to suggest the existence of a
nuptial song flight, but further observations at this period would be
of great interest.
_Nesting._--In Scotland and the English lake district the breeding
haunts of this species must be looked for at about 2,500 to 3,500 feet
or even higher, not on the mountain tops, but on plateaus or slopes
below the highest points. Here, where the only vegetation consists of a
scanty growth of heather mixed with wiry grass, mosses and lichens, and
occasional fragments of gray rock crop out here and there, the dotterel
is at home. Few living things haunt their solitudes; a stray raven or
eagle may pass over occasionally, but as a rule there is hardly a sign
of life anywhere. There is some evidence that one or two “scrapes”
are made by one pair of birds, but we have no information as to which
of the two is responsible for making the hollow. The eggs are laid
in a natural depression adapted by the bird, roughly about three and
one-half inches across and fairly deep, as a rule, but generally filled
with fragments of lichen or the red leaves of the cranberry, so that
the eggs are not difficult to see though their coloring harmonizes with
the surroundings.
_Eggs._--Normally three, but frequently two only, while instances of
four are comparatively rare. They are more elliptical and less pyriform
than most waders’ eggs and are not unlike some types of eggs of the
Arctic tern, though almost always more boldly blotched. In color they
range from yellowish olive to clay color, occasionally with a greenish
tinge and are boldly spotted and blotched with deep blackish brown
and a few ashy shell marks. The average of 100 British eggs, measured
by the writer is 41.1 by 28.8 millimeters; the eggs showing the four
extremes measure =46.7= by 31.3, 44.5 by =31.5=, =37.5= by 29 and 41.6
by =27.4= millimeters.
The sexes are not easy to distinguish in the field, but nearly all the
positive evidence from birds shot off the eggs goes to prove that the
male is generally to be found incubating. H. H. Slater shot two males
from eggs. H. J. Pearson and Gloger had similar experiences, and Bengt
Berg, who has watched this bird at close quarters, says that only the
male incubates. Many accounts have been published of the behavior of
the sitting bird. When flushed from the eggs it returns by a circuitous
route, cowering like a mouse, as one observer describes it, sometimes
stopping to look round and sometimes doubling back on his tracks like
a hunted hare, but all the time, in spite of the numerous turns and
twists, gradually approaching the eggs to which at last a short direct
run is made. Viewed from behind the bird is exceedingly difficult to
follow with the eye in its environment, so that close watching is
necessary to mark it down. When the nest has once been discovered, or
if the bird is brooding young, it will show extraordinary boldness and
will even allow itself to be lifted off the nest by the hand, settling
down again as soon as it is removed. Bengt Berg actually succeeded in
photographing a bird in the act of accepting a worm from the hand. The
only information as to the length of the incubation period is Heyshams
oft-quoted assertion that it rarely lasts more than 18 or 20 days. Only
a single brood is reared in a season, but the hen will lay a second
time about a fortnight after the first clutch has been destroyed.
_Young._--In one case when Seton Gordon came across a nest with
half-grown chicks, both parents showed signs of great excitement
and almost complete disregard of his presence, running backward and
forward and frequently uttering their soft whistle which sounded
something like _twee, twee, tuur_, the first two notes pitched in a
high key and the last a purring sound difficult to express in writing.
On other occasions only a single old bird accompanied the young and
considerable differences were apparent in their behavior, some showing
signs of great anxiety when the young were approached while others were
apparently almost indifferent and remained some distance off.
_Plumages._--The plumages and molts are fully described in A Practical
Handbook of British Birds edited by H. F. Witherby (1920).
_Food._--On its breeding grounds it feeds on insects (Diptera,
Coleoptera, and their larvae). Collett records _Bembidium_ and _Elater_
larvae; Petenyi records _Dorcadion_, _Silpha_, and _Pachygastra_.
Earthworms are also taken, according to Saxby, Collett, and Berg. H. J.
Pearson also records vegetable matter, apparently seeds of _Empetrum
nigrum_ or crowberry. H. B. Tristram writes that in its winter quarters
in Palestine it subsists largely on small snails (_Helix_).
_Behavior._--The dotterel is a quiet, unobtrusive bird, not associating
much with other waders and generally met with in small parties out of
the breeding season. Its general brown coloring is not striking and no
doubt it is frequently overlooked. Its flight is strong, the clean-cut
wings, as Gordon says, “moving with swift and powerful strokes only a
few feet above the surface of the ground.”
_Enemies._--Naumann (1887) states that the chief enemies of the
dotterel are the falcons (peregrine, hobby, and merlin) and the
short-winged hawks (goshawk and sparrow hawk).
_Fall._--At Heligoland Gätke (1895) observed large numbers of young
birds of the year on passage on one or two occasions; on August 22,
1882, great numbers passed, although wind and rain prevailed, and on
September 4 in fine weather one flight alone took five minutes to pass,
an unprecedented occurrence.
_Winter._--Lord Lilford found it abundant in its winter quarters on the
plains of Tunisia consorting with sand grouse, lapwings, golden plover,
little bustards, and cranes. He failed to get within shot on foot, but
killed many from horse, donkey, or camel, though the birds would run
about fearlessly within a few feet of the Arab plowmen.
DISTRIBUTION
_Breeding range._--In the British Isles confined to a few localities
in the North Pennine and Cumbrian Hills, and in Scotland chiefly to
levels of 3,000 to 4,000 feet in the Grampians and Cairngorms, and very
locally north and west. On the Continent, in northern Scandinavia,
north Finland and Russia, Nova Zembla, Waigatz, and Kolguev. It is
found locally in the Riesengebirge, Styria, Transylvania, etc. It is
also said to breed in southeast Russia. In Asia it is found across
Siberia and on the New Siberian Isles in the tundra and south to the
mountain ranges of central Asia.
_Winter range._--Extends to North Africa, Palestine and Syria, Iraq,
Arabia, and Persia.
_Spring migration._--In the western Mediterranean it is scarce on
spring passage, but Brehm obtained one at Cartagena, Spain, on March
31. It is also of rare occurrence at Malta in spring and seldom
recorded from Greece. At Muonioniska flocks arrive from the south about
May 29 and remain for a week or two before proceeding to their breeding
grounds on the tundra.
_Fall migration._--The great bulk of migrants seem to pass through
eastern Europe southward through Palestine, but small numbers pass the
Straits of Gibraltar in August and September, and it is not uncommon
on Malta in October and November (early date, August 23; late date,
December 11). Whitaker notes its arrival in Tunisia in September and
October.
_Casual records._--Saxby records one on the Shetlands in mid-June,
1869. It is a rare visitor to the Canaries and has not been recorded
there for many years. The supposed record from Spitzbergen is probably
a mistaken identification, but it has occurred in Japan and on King
Island, Alaska (July 23, 1897).
_Egg dates._--British Isles, 8 dates between May 30, and June 15; 5
dates between June 21 and July 14; probably including some second
layings. In Scandinavia, 14 dates between June 3 and 15; 33 dates
between June 16 and 30; 2 dates between July 1 and 6.
SQUATAROLA SQUATAROLA (Linnaeus)
BLACK-BELLIED PLOVER
HABITS
I use the above name rather than the latest check list name,
_cynosurae_ because I can not see any valid reason for recognizing a
North American race of this cosmopolitan species. A slight average
difference in size is of little significance in a species which shows
such a wide range of individual variation. Recent investigation has, I
believe, convinced even Mr. Bangs that this race, which he described,
has no standing. The bird which breeds in northeastern Siberia has been
separated under the name _hypomelaena_; this may be a good race, though
material to establish it is rather scanty in this country. Probably it
is the Siberian race which breeds on the Bering Sea coast of Alaska.
For life-history purposes the species, as a whole, will be considered.
The black-bellied plover is an aristocrat among shore birds, the
largest and strongest of the plovers, a leader of its tribe. It is
a distinguished-looking bird in its handsome spring livery of black
and white; and its attitude, as it stands like a sentinel on the
crest of a sand dune or on some distant mud flat, is always dignified
and imposing. Its wild, plaintive, and musical whistle arouses the
enthusiasm of the sportsman and serves both as a warning and as an
invitation to the lesser fowl that look to it for leadership.