110 BRITISH SEA BIRDS. 
with during summer by various travellers. The 
Knot is another bird remarkable for the great 
seasonal changes which its plumage undergoes. In 
winter, the plumage is ash-gray above, white below ; 
in summer, the feathers of the upper parts become 
black margined with reddish-brown and mixed with 
white, those of the lower parts rich bay or chestnut. 
It.has been remarked that the birds that winter on 
our coasts do not assume such rich tints in summer 
as individuals that pass along our coasts from more 
southern latitudes. This is probably because the 
birds wintering with us are younger individuals, 
only the oldest penetrating to the remoter winter 
home. The Knot has a wide distribution during 
winter, including the Southern States, and Mexico, 
Africa, and it is said Australia, and New Zealand! 
It is possible that in the latter countries the Eastern 
Knot—the Tvrznga crasstrostris of science—is con- 
fused with the present species. 
CURLEW SANDPIPER. 
This pretty little species, known to many as the 
“Pygmy Curlew,” and to modern naturalists by the 
scientific name of Zringa subarquata, is one of the 
rarest of the British Limicole. It very closely 
resembles the Knot in the colour of its plumage, 
and in the seasonal changes that plumage undergoes, 
but it is not much more than three-fourths the size, 
and has a curved Curlew-like bill. This little Sand- 
piper, like most of its order, is a migrant, breeding 
ee 
