422 ENGLISH BIRD LIFE 



as lining. . . . The ground where the nests were 

 placed was full of tussocks and hummocks close 

 together, the swampv ground between being almost 

 hidden, or traceable only by rows of cotton-grass." 

 Temminck's Stint, the least of the British Sand- 

 pipers — a bird even smaller than the Little Stint — 

 also visits England on rare occasions; and the 

 American Stint is included in the list on the 

 strength of some two or three occurrences. 



Late in October, parties of Knots, birds plainly 

 larger than the Dunlins, appear upon the flats, 

 sometimes in considerable numbers. In their 

 autumn plumage they are of a lightish-grey hue 

 with the dark edges of the wing-feathers clearly 

 discernible. In spring, however, the male takes on 

 brighter tints of reddish-brown, black and white, 

 and his breast changes to a rich chestnut. The 

 nesting habits of the Knot still appear to be 

 involved in considerable mystery. 



In 1876, Col. Feilden, naturalist to H.AI.S. 

 Alert, came upon the nestlings in Grinnell 

 Land, and in the same latitude other examples of 

 the young have been taken. Eggs believed to have 

 been laid by the Knot in captivity have, from time 

 to time, been exhibited, but hitherto, notwithstand- 

 ing the vastness of the flocks seen on migration, 

 the true breeding haunts of the birds, with nests 

 and eggs in their natural surroundings, have still 

 to be traced. 



Many other birds visit the flats ; some, it may be, 

 appearing for a single day, whilst others remain 

 during the entire winter. Hither come the Sander- 



