The Sandpipers. 



187 



The Knot. 



THE DUNLIN. 

 (Pelidna nlpina.) 



tail-feathers do not protrude beyond 



the others, so that the tail is square, 



not pointed as in the Dunlins. The 



breeding-home of the Knot is in the 



Arctic Regions, but, although nestlings 



were procured by Colonel Feilden in 



Grinnell Land, the eggs are still un- 

 known, though there is one in the 



British Museum from Greenland, which 



seems to be fairly well authenticated. 



It is of an olive stone-colour, blotched 



and spotted with reddish brown, black 



and grey ; the length is a little over 



an inch-and-a-half. 



The Knot migrates in company, and is often associated with Dunlins on the mud- 

 flats. It visits Africa and India, and even Australia in its winter migration, as 



well as South America, but many remain in more northern haunts and winter 



on the English coasts. 



In these birds the bill is longer than the tarsus, and the tail 

 is graduated and pointed, the centre feathers exceeding the others 

 in length. In summer the Dunlin has a black breast, this being 



white in winter. It nests on the moors in the South-west and North of England, as 



also in Scotland and Ireland. 



In autumn and winter it is very plentiful on the mud-flats and the shores of all 



our coasts. It also nests throughout Northern Europe and Northern Asia, as well as 



in North America, wintering as far south as the West Indies and Calilbrnia, and in 



the Old World visiting the Mediterranean countries, the Red Sea, and the coasts 



of India and China. 



Of all our W'ading-birds the Dunlin is 

 the most common and easy to observe, and 

 it may be noticed in large flocks on the 

 mud-flats, or on the beach when the tide 

 is full. The nest is a little depression in 

 the ground, with a lining of grass, roots, 

 or moss, and is generally well concealed 

 by overhanging grass or heather. The 

 eggs are four in number, and pear-shaped ; 

 they vary in colour from stone-grey or 

 greenish-grey to chocolate, with the usual 

 blotches and spots of reddish-brown, 

 Thk Dunlin. black and grey. 



