176 BRITISH BIRDS. 



always the first to make their appearance^ being followed some time after- 

 wards by their parents. Odd birds have been noticed at different times 

 throughout the summer ; so that it is very possible that a few non-breeding 

 birds may remain in their winter-quarters instead of going north with 

 their companions. They stay on our coasts until the middle of the 

 following May, when the great bulk pass on again to the north. No 

 portion of the British coast is so favoured with Knots as the low-lying 

 shores between the Humber and the Wash. In this endless paradise of 

 wading birds Knots may be seen in countless thousands, and next to the 

 Dunlin it is the commonest bird. Their favourite haunts are the wide, 

 almost interminable mud-flats left by the receding tide, the low-lying 

 shores of the Humber, and the open expanse of the Wash, with its 

 thousands of acres of salt-marsh, mud-flats, and sand. The flight-nets 

 unerringly proclaim the date when the great flocks arrive, and hundreds 

 are often taken in a single night, as they sweep along the coast just above 

 the surface of the sea which ripples at high water over the extensive mud- 

 flats. Just after their arrival they are remarkably tame; but incessant 

 persecution soon teaches them the lesson of wariness, which the Arctic 

 solitudes had failed to do. The Knot appears sometimes to migrate across 

 country ; and Swaysland once caught six in a bird-net, all flying north- 

 east, at the Devil's Dyke, near Brighton. 



It is an animating sight to watch a flock of these little Arctic strangers 

 feeding on the mud-flats or sands. Perhaps the romance attaching to their 

 breeding-grounds and still all but undiscovered eggs adds to the charm, 

 and increases the interest in these birds. When feeding they usually keep 

 well together, all pointing their heads in one direction, systematically 

 searching the ground for food. The smaller birds which are scattered 

 amongst them, and trip here and there up and down the sands, crossing 

 and recrossing each other's tracks, are Dunlins ; the Knots do not rush 

 about in such an erratic manner. The legs are bent and the head is 

 thrust well forward as the Knot seeks for its food. They often search 

 quite close to the receding waves, following in theii* wake to pick up the 

 various small animals cast ashore. Sometimes a solitary bird may be seen 

 feeding, running to and fro, picking here and there, or standing preening 

 its plumage. Large flocks often congregate on some favourite mud-bank 

 and remain almost motionless for hours. If alarmed^ the whole flock rises 

 en masse, and on rapid wing scurries along just above the sands to quieter 

 and safer quarters. Sometimes they wheel and turn, or fly for a little 

 distance out to sea, and perform various graceful evolutions ere alighting. 

 The Knot is capable of running with great speed, especially when wounded 

 in the wings. When a very large flock is congregated, many of the birds 

 are ever on the wing, flying over the heads of their companions to find a 

 more suitable feeding-place and then settling again. The Knot feeds by 



