432 SANDPIPERS AND RELATED SPECIES 



1875-6 in Grant Land, but though young in down were obtained, no eggs were 

 discovered ; and Commander Peary's observations show that its breeding range 

 extends to Axel Heiberg Land (cf. Ibis, 1908, p. 541). There is also reason to 

 believe, from the records of other Arctic explorers, that it breeds on Hare Island 

 (Ross), the North Georgian Islands (Sabine), Melville Peninsula (Lyon), and possibly 

 in Hudson's Bay to lat. 55 (Swainson and Richardson). There is also some evidence 

 that it breeds not far from Point Barrow, Alaska. During the winter it occurs 

 on migration in great numbers along the coasts of Western Europe, wintering in 

 Africa, where it ranges south to Cape Colony (Pondoland). The East Siberian knot 

 (C. crassirostris) appears to replace it in winter in South-eastern Asia, but it has 

 occurred in India, China, and thence to Australia and New Zealand, while in 

 America it is common on the Atlantic coast, and ranges south to Brazil and 

 Patagonia. [F. c. R. j.] 



3. Migration. A bird of passage and winter visitor to our coasts. The 

 spring migration commences in April and continues throughout May to the middle 

 of June. A flock of fifty or sixty were observed at the Dudgeon Light, Norfolk, 

 on April 10th and llth, 1910 (B. 0. C. Migration Report, Aug. 1911, vol. xxviii. 

 p. 177). This may have been part of a movement of birds that had spent the 

 winter on our shores. Immigration from abroad observed on the South Kent 

 coast commences in the end of April. The first birds to arrive are in transitional 

 plumage, but fresh arrivals in the middle of May have their red breasts fully 

 developed. They rest a few hours on the sands, and then continue their journey 

 (Birds of Kent, p. 466). Very large flocks pass along the east coast ; at Cley in 

 Norfolk, on May 6th, 1909, knots and dunlin were recorded as passing west in a 

 continuous stream for three or four hours (B. 0. C. Migration Report, October 

 1910, vol. xxvi. p. 187). There is no month in which the knot is entirely absent 

 from the British Isles; in 1910 small numbers stayed throughout the summer 

 near Cromarty Firth (B. 0. C. Migration Report, Aug. 1911, vol. xxviii. p. 254). 

 These would be non-breeding birds ; even if we leave them out of consideration, 

 the knot can hardly be said to be altogether absent from our shores even in July, 

 as in most years a few adults return from their breeding-places before the end of 

 that month. The birds of the year follow soon after. I have seen small parties 

 of very tame immature birds on the Norfolk coast in the beginning of August. 

 The autumn passage continues throughout September, [w. F.] 



4. Nest and Eggs. Does not breed in the British Isles. [F. c. K. j.] 



5. Food. Molluscs, especially small mussels, crustaceans, worms, etc., 



