e 
PLOVERS AND SANDPIPERS. 10g 
all heading in the same direction, and moving 
about quickly. If the flock is a very large one 
some of the individuals are almost constantly in the 
air, flying over the heads of their companions, and 
alighting again, as if eager to get the first look 
over the ground. They are very wary when 
congregated in such large assemblies, easily flushed, 
and often performing various evolutions, both over 
the sands or the water, before alighting again. 
The Knot more often runs with a series of short, 
quick steps than walks, and it flies both rapidly and 
well. After feeding, the entire flock will often 
stand for a long time on a certain piece of the 
shore, sleeping and preening plumage, but even on 
these occasions they are somewhat restless, and it 
is rare to see all still at once. They feed both by 
night and by day. The call-note is seldom or 
never uttered, although when on migration the 
birds appear to be noisy enough, crying incessantly 
to each other as they fly along in the gloom. 
But little is known of the nesting economy of 
the Knot. Its great breeding grounds—the nesting 
places of the vast flocks that pass southwards in 
autumn——still remain undiscovered. Where they are 
situated it is useless to speculate. Naturalists are 
ignorant of its eggs, which still remain unknown 
in collections, although the young in down have 
been obtained. The Knot breeds in the high 
Arctic regions, in the North Polar Basin, mostly, if 
not entirely above lat. 80°; and here it has been met 
