AMERICAN - KNOT 141 



is a single note resembling a little honk. These birds will also respond to 

 the note of the black-bellied plover (Chnradrius squatarola) as readily as to 

 their own when it is given with a whistle. 



Roland C. Ross (1924) gives the following graphic description of 

 the croaking note : 



The common call is a low-pitched, hoarse " skeuk." the lowest and heaviest 

 voice on the flats. It struck me as a dull croak, coming pretty regularly from 

 the feeding birds, and especially strong when they took wing. A lone bird 

 in joining the flock would croak his coming. The sound can be imitated in 

 quality and form but in a higher pitch. Make the facial contortions necessary 

 to "cluck" to a horse, but don't "cluck"; make it " skeuk," and locate it 

 in the wisdom teeth on the side being dislocated. Pitch it low; it will still 

 be two tones too high. At a distance the suckiug or harsh quality is lost. A 

 softer, more musical rendition is given when the birds are well bunched and 

 feeding, which came to my ear as " chook." 



John T. Nichols (1920) says: "The flight note of the knot is a 

 low-pitched whistle, frequently in two parts, with a peculiar lisp or 

 buzz in it, ilu flu" 



Doctor Ekblaw describes the notes heard on the breeding grounds 

 as follows: 



Four distinct calls characterize the mating and nesting season. Most com- 

 mon are two piercingly shrill calls uttered generally on the wing, one of them 

 resembling wah-quoi and the other wce-a-ichit, easily distinguished, but some- 

 what alike. The long-drawn-out coo-a-liee, or coo-]iee, is a soft, flutelike call 

 also given in flight, but nearly always back among the hills, far from the shore 

 where the nests are hidden. This flutelike call appears to be a signal or 

 recognition call. The fourth call is a sharp, querulous whit, whit, whit, 

 almost like a cluck, often given singly, but more often many times repeated. 

 When their nesting haunts are invaded or their feeding grounds disturbed this 

 call expresses their displeasure. 



Field marks. — In spring plumage the knot is easily recognized 

 by its reddish breast, which, however, is not as conspicuous as might 

 be expected. In immature and winter plumage the best character 

 is the absence of any conspicuous field mark. Even in flight it seems 

 to be a plain gray bird; the rump and tail appear but little lighter 

 than the rest of the upper parts and the faint white line in the wings 

 is hardly noticeable. Its larger size will hardly distinguish it from 

 the smaller sandpipers except by direct comparison. Its short, 

 greenish yellow legs and its prominent bill might help one to recog- 

 nize it under favorable circumstances. 



Fall. — Doctor Ekblaw says : 



As soon as the water begins to grow cold, when insect and other small life 

 becomes scarce, and when the midnight sun approaches the horizon, the knots 

 abandon the northland, plump and strong from their summer stay in the 

 Arctic, and wend their way to the southland. Not even a belated straggler 

 can be found after August 1. 



