On the Knot Breeding in Iceland. 105 



VIII. — The Knot reported as Breeding in Iceland. 

 By Otto Ottosson, M.D. 



On the 1 7th of June, 1898, a nest of the Knot (Tringa canutus) 

 was found in the island of Hrisey in the north of Iceland. It 

 contained four fresh eggs of characteristic appearance. As 

 I know no other discovery of a nest of this bird with eggs, 

 and their identity is beyond all doubt, though the bird was 

 watched and not shot, I presume that the facts relating 

 to it may be of great interest. Concerning the nest and 

 its position, I can only say that the bird was breeding 

 together with several pairs of T. maritima. So soon as 

 I received the clutch I wrote for full details about it, 

 with an account of the discovery ; but, unfortunately, the 

 collector (E. Moller, of Akureyri in Iceland) was then dead. 

 However, some particulars accompanied the sending of 

 the eggs. 



The collector, who had a very good knowledge of the Ice- 

 landic bird-fauna — of which I, during a ten years' connexion 

 with him, had many opportunities of satisfying myself, — knew 

 this bird very well, and had often seen it in spring, but never 

 before met with it breeding, though in the course of thirty 

 years' collecting of eggs he always had his attention especially 

 directed to it. Of the nest nothing is stated, and of the bird 

 only that it was not shy but kept near the nest, and could 

 therefore be observed with great accuracy. Moller would 

 not shoot it, hoping to get another clutch of eggs from the 

 same pair, and he regarded it as enough that he had seen 

 it at the distance of a few metres. The colour of the eggs 

 is as follows : — 



Ground greenish grey. The markings consist of close, 

 very oblique spots, forming a zone or wreath at the thick 

 end, partly of dark red-brown on the surface, partly of 

 deep grey-violet and grey-blue underlying spots; there 

 are besides at the thicker end a few dark black-brown 

 spots and streaks very much on the surface. The eggs are 

 quite like very large eggs of T. alpina of the closely-spotted 



