THE KNOT 477 



by the continuing song succeeds for a moment in discerning the bird 

 at a certain attitude of flight, when the strong sunlight falls upon 

 his golden coloured breast or light wings. Gradually, as in increas- 

 ing excitement he executes the convulsive vibrations of his wings, 

 his song changes to single deeper notes following quickly after 

 each other at last to die out while the bird at the same time drops 

 to the earth on stiff wings strongly bent upward." l The song, which 

 Herr Manniche says at certain stages reminds one of the flute-like 

 notes of the curlew, but is so rich and varied that it can hardly be 

 expressed or compared with the song of any other bird, may be heard 

 for more than a month all over the breeding area. 



The song-flight has also been described by Colonel Feilden, 

 who states that knots, when descending from a height during 

 the breeding-flight, beat their wings above the back, with a 

 rapid motion which produces a whirring noise. The flute-like song 

 he syllables " tidlawee-tidlawee-whee-whee" In the early days of the 

 mating season, he observed at times two males pursuing one female. 2 

 It has also been stated that "when courting, knots play with one 

 another upon the wing and upon the ground in a most entertaining 

 manner, pursuing, avoiding, encouraging." 3 The fact that Herr 

 Manniche found brooding spots on the breasts of males and 

 females proves that both share in the duty of incubation, but he 

 concluded that the greater part of the duty devolves upon the female, 

 " from the fact that, during the breeding season, I met with males far 

 more frequently than with the females at the side of lakes and other 

 feeding-places lying far from the nesting localities." 4 His further 

 conclusion that the care of the young is entrusted to the female alone 

 is not supported by the experience of Colonel Feilden, as an adult bird 

 he secured, which was tending by itself three downy chicks, proved 

 on dissection to be a male. 5 Herr Manniche, however, had good 

 reasons for his assumption. Small parties of birds detached from the 



1 A. L. V. Manniche, Terrestrial Mammals and Birds of N.E. Greenland, p. 132. 



2 Ibis, 1877, p. 407. 3 H. Chichester Hart, Zoologist, 1880, p. 205. 

 4 Manniche, op. cit., p. 134. 5 Ibis, 1877, p. 407. 



VOL. III. 3 Q 



