TRINGA CANUTUS. 683 
and not unfrequently in company with the Little Stint and the 
Sanderling. At some hours of the day, probably when changing 
their feeding-ground, and chiefly in the early morning, these birds 
are more on the move than at other times; and the air over the 
lagoon seems then literally to teem with their myriads, presenting 
a most animated picture as the white portions of their plumage 
flash with almost dazzling effect in the early tropical sunlight, 
especially when the brightness of the scene is enhanced by the 
presence in the flock of a large reinforcement of Sanderlings. In 
the afternoon, if, as is the case five days out of seven at Walwich 
Bay, the wind blows strongly from the south-east, these birds 
generally retire to some little distance from the water and seek a 
large open flat in the immediate neighbourhood. Whilst there they 
are excessively shy and difficult to approach; and I may add that 
I have heard that this temporary wildness is common to most 
water-birds on the Damara coast whenever a high wind arises. On 
ordinary occasions the Curlew Sandpiper is comparatively tame, 
and numbers may be bagged without difficulty. Considerable 
variations of plumage are to be met with, as I have shot at the 
same time specimens in the grey dress and others in which the 
plumage has been almost of a rusty red. These Sandpipers grow 
enormously fat, but are not desirable birds for the table, as their 
flavour is excessively fishy.” Senor Anchieta has procured a single 
specimen at Benguela. 
Bill half as long again as the head, considerably decurved at 
the end, and black. Plumage in winter: brownish-grey above, each 
feather with a dusky streak; the sides and fore-part of the neck, 
with a small portion of the breast, greyish-white, streaked with 
brownish-grey ; the throat, breast, and abdomen white ; the tail- 
coverts white; the tail brownish-grey. In summer: the upper 
parts of the body black, mottled and streaked with light-red ; the 
sides of the head, the fore-part and sides of the neck, and the 
breast, bright yellowish-red ; the neck faintly streaked with dusky ; 
tail-coverts white, spotted with brown and red; the tail brownish- 
grey. Length, 9” ; wing, 5” 6’; tail, 2”. 
Fig. Dresser, B. Eur. viii, p. 542. 
655. Trica canurus (L.). Knot. 
Said by Dr. Hartlaub to occur in South Africa, but it has never 
