SCOLOPACID.E — THE SNIPE FAMILY — TRINGA, 215 



first arrival that season, hi large numbers ; by the 22d all had passed on. A fine 

 specimen procured at that time is now in the Collection of the Boston Natural History 

 Society. The birds when in fair condition are regarded as good eating. 



The Knot is said to feed principally on aquatic insects and the soft animals in- 

 habiting small bivalve shells. It is also said to be able to swim with great ease. 

 Wilson, who has observed flocks of these birds on the sandy shores of New Jer- 

 sey, states tliat their favorite and almost exclusive food seemed to be small, thin, 

 oval bivalve shellfish of a pearly-white color, which lie at a short distance below 

 the surface, and in some places at low-water occur in heaps. These are swallowed 

 whole, and, when loosened by the motion of the waves, are collected by this bird with 

 great ease and dexterity. While doing this the bird follows the flowing and the re- 

 cession of the waves Avith great nimbleness, and Wilson adds that it is highly amusing 

 to observe Avith what adroitness it eludes the tumbling surf Avhile seeming wholly 

 intent on collecting its food. Audubon has seen this species probe the wet sand on 

 the borders of oozy salt-marshes, thrusting in its bill with the same dexterity 

 shown by other species. Its flight is swift, elevated, and well sustained. The aerial 

 evolutions of these birds, on their first arrival in fall, are said to be very beautiful, 

 and they follow each other in their course with incredible celerity. 



Dr. Bachman informed JMr. Audubon that the Knot is quite abundant in South 

 Carolina in both of its migrations, but that it is not known there in its breeding- 

 plumage. It is there called the " May-bird," and in the middle districts the '• Gray- 

 back." Audubon found it in winter in East Florida ; and while in the Bay of 

 Galveston, Texas, in the spring of 1837, he observed groups of Knots arriving there 

 in April, and proceeding eastward. 



On Long Island, according to Giraud, it is familiarly known to the hunters both 

 as the '■' Eobin-Snipe " and the '• Ked-breasted." In the Great South Bay of that 

 island, where there are immense salt-marshes separated by creeks and channels, these 

 birds abound during their spring migrations. They freciuent the shoal ponds, which 

 furnish the small shellfish on which they chiefly subsist. There they are easily 

 hunted by sportsmen lying in wait near their favotite haunts, and imitating their 

 peculiar notes so as to bring them within gunshot. At this period of their migra- 

 tion these birds assemble in flocks and pass northward to their breeding-places, 

 returning with their young about the middle of August, and then having a very dif- 

 ferent plumage from that of spring. They move southward late in September. In 

 its then ashy-gray upper plumage it is the White Kobin-Snipe of the Long Island 

 hunters. In the fall it frequents the inner beaches, and is sometimes observed along 

 the surf, collecting the minute marine animals cast on the shore by the waves. It is 

 said to be more timid in the fall than in the spring, frequently passing within hear- 

 ing of the fowler's whistle without approaching his decoy. This statement of Giraud, 

 in reference to its wariness in the fall, is in remarkable contrast with its almost 

 stupid tameness at the same season, on its first arrival in autumn, as noted by Yar- 

 rell. Sir William Jardine also mentions that he once met, in the month of September, 

 on the east side of Holy Island, with a large flock which was so tame as to suffer him 

 to kill as many as he wanted with stones from the beach. Mr. Moore states that 

 this species occurs in Florida during the winter, and that some remain there during 

 the season. 



This species, according to Leotaud, visits Trinidad, Avliere, like all the other migra- 

 tory Waders which visit that island, it arrives in August and leaves in October. It 

 is almost always alone, or very rarely in flocks of three or four, and frequents the 

 borders of the sea. As soon as it alights it immediately begins running with re- 



