721 



SCOLOPACID.E. 



SCOLOPACID.E. 



722 



its legs, has been often killed in England ; but it must be classed 

 among those birds whose visits are accidental and uncertain. It is 

 equally scarce in Holland and the northern portion of Europe ; in 

 fact, though apparently abundant nowhere, it exhibits so wide a range, 

 that its deficiency in point of number in any given locality is counter- 

 balanced by its almost universal distribution." 



Black-Bellied Plover (Kimanlopits melanogaater}. 



Trinya. Beak of moderate length, about as long as the head, 

 sometimes slightly curved, rather flexible, compressed at the base, 

 depressed, dilated and blunt towards the point; both mandibles 

 grooved along the sides; nostrils lateral, pierced in the membrane 

 lining the groove. Legs slender; lower part of tibia naked; three 

 toes before, one behind, those in front entirely divided to their origin ; 

 the hind toe articulated upon the tarsus. Wings of moderate size, 

 pointed, the first feather always the longest. 



T. cinerea, the Knot. It is the T. grisea and T. Canutes of Linnaeus 

 and Omelin ; Calidrit Qqnutus of Cuvier : the Maubeche Grise, 

 Maubcche Tachetee, and Tie Canut of the French ; Chiurlo, Piova- 

 nello Maggiore, and Paginella Maggiore, of the Italians ; Hothbraune 

 Strandlaufer, Aschgrau Strandlaufer, and Hochkopfise Strandlaufer 

 of the Germans ; Sidlingar-Kall of the Icelanders ; Fisere-Pist, Fitere- 

 Kuro, and Ficcr-Muus, of theNorwegians ; Y Cuut of the Welsh. 



Several other scientific names have been given to this bird according 

 to the different stages of its plumage, such stages having b-eu 

 mistaken by the describers for specific differences. (Temmiuck, 

 ' Mnuual.') 



The Knot (Tringa cinerea). 

 Upper figure, sumxcr plumage; lower figure, Mir.tcr plumage. (Gould.) 



Male and Female in Winter. Bill straight, a little longer than the 

 head, very much dilated and convex towards the tip ; all the tail- 

 feathers of equal length. Throat, middle of the belly, and abdomen, 

 pure white ; forehead, eyebrows, sides and front of the neck, breast, 

 and flanks, white also, but varied with email brown longitudinal lines, 



SAT. HIST. DIV. VOL. IV. 



and transversal and zigzag bands of ashy-brown ; head, neck, back, 

 and scapulars, bright ash with brown stems ; rump and upper tail- 

 coverts white, with black crescents and zigzags ; wing-coverts :ish, 

 bordered with white and with brown stems ; tail-feathers ash varie- 

 gated with white ; bill and feet greenish-black ; iris brown. Length 

 about 10 inches. 



Summer or Nuptial Plumage. Large eyebrows, throat, sides and 

 front of the neck, breast, belly, and flanks, of a rusty or coppery 

 ruddy; nape ruddy, with small longitudinal lines; top of the head, 

 back, and scapulars, deep black ; all these feathers bordered with vivid 

 ruddy ; on the scapulars great oval spots of the same ruddy colour ; 

 abdomen white, speckled with ruddy and blotched with black ; upper 

 coverts of the tail white, with black crescents and ruddy blotches; 

 tail-feathers blackish-ash, variegated with whitish. Such are the old 

 birds when in perfect plumage. (Temm.) 



This bird is found in Iceland, Greenland, North Georgian Islands, 

 Duke of York's Bay, Melville Peninsula, Hudson's Bay, Sweden and 

 Norway, Holland in spring and autumn, the British Islands (but not 

 known to breed there), rare in Germany, France, and the south of 

 Europe. 



According to Captain Lyon, who saw it breeding in Melville 

 Peninsula, the Knot lays four eggs on a tuft of withered grass, with- 

 out forming any nest. The eggs are of a light yellowish-brown, 

 spotted with gray and reddish at the larger end, so as to form a sort 

 of zone, more or less. There are but few spots towards the point. 



The food of the Knot consists principally of worms, and also 

 occasionally of small river and marsh insects, little marine crustaceans. 

 and very small bivalve molluscs. 



It is one of the most delicious of birds, and when fattened is 

 preferred by epicures to the most luscious ruff. Camden says they 

 derive their name from King Canute, Knute, or Knout, as he is some- 

 times called, probably because they were a favourite dish of that 

 monarch. 



Drayton says of this bird 



"The Knot, that called was Canutus bird of old, 

 Of that great king of Danes his name that still doth hold, 

 His appetite to please, that farre and nccre T\as sought, 

 For him, as some have said, from Uenmarke hither brought." 



(* Polyolbion ' 25th Song.) 



T. minula, the Little Sandpiper (Fleming). It is the T. pusitta of 

 Linnaeus, Latham, and Pennant ; the Stint of Bewick ; the Minute 

 Tringa of Selby ; the Little Stint of Jenyns ; the Pigmy Sandpiper of 

 Richardson ; the Bdcasseau Echasaes of Temmiuck ; Gambecchio and 

 Culetto of the Italians ; Der Hochbeinige Strandlaufer and Der 

 Kleine Schlammlaufer and Zwerg Schlammlaufer of the Germans ; 

 Stint of Zeeleeurik of the Netherlanders ; and Y Pibbydd Lleiaf of the 

 Welsh. 



L'ttle Sandpiper (Ti-inga minuld). 



Lower figure to the left, winter plumage ; upper figure, summer plumage; 

 lower figure to the right, young of the j-ear. (Gould.) 



It has the bill straight, shorter than the head ; tail doubly forked, 

 lateral feathers brown-ash, all variegated with white; tarsus 10 lines 

 long. 



This bird is found at Hudson's Bay, in India, South Africa, North 

 America, and Europe. In the British Islands they have been noticed 

 in the vicinity of the Solway, in the west of Lancashire ; and on the 

 coasts of Suffolk, Norfolk, Yorkshire, and Durham in the autumn. 

 A small number are seen every year in Belfast Bay, according to 

 Mr. W. Thompson. 



This species haunts sandy shores, the banks of large rivers, and 

 salt-marshes. In this country it is mostly found in company with the 

 Dunlin and Sauderling on the sandy sea-shore. 



The flesh of the Little Stint much resembles that of its congeners, 

 but it must not be confounded with the Stint of the old feasts, which 

 appears to have been the Dunlin or Purre. 



3 A. 



