234 ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



ring again in numbers along the coast of the West of England 

 and on the Irish coast. 



Range outside the British Islands. The Knot breeds in the 

 Arctic Regions and was found nesting by the explorers in the 

 early part of the century on Melville Island and also on Mel- 

 ville Peninsula, but no eggs seem to have been brought back 

 by them. Colonel Feilden obtained young birds in Grinnell 

 Land, lat. 82 33', and Mr. H. C. Hart also procured nestlings 

 in lat. 81 44', but no eggs were obtained by these naturalists 

 during the voyage of the " Alert " and " Discovery." No other 

 record of the breeding of the Knot has yet been authenticated, 

 and although it has been observed on migration in many parts 

 of Northern Russia and Siberia, it has not been found nesting 

 in any part of the Old World. Dr. Bunge noticed the species 

 on Great Liakoff Island, the most southerly of the New Siberian 

 islands, on the 6th of July, and shot specimens throughout the 

 greater part of the month, but on the 2oth the birds became 

 rarer, and were not recorded after the 3ist. Colonel Feilden 

 writes to me : " If Bunge was correct in the identification of the 

 bird, I see no reason to doubt that the Knot breeds in the New 

 Siberian Islands, for we obtained old birds and nestlings on 

 the i ith of July at Discovery Bay, and again at Floe Berg beach 

 on the 3ist of July. There is, of course, some possibility that 

 the Liakoff Knot might be T. crassirostris and not T. canutus, as 

 the occurrences of the latter bird in Eastern Siberia have been 

 very few." In winter the Knot passes as far south as Australia 

 and New Zealand, and is found, but more rarely, on the coasts 

 of India and Africa. In America it migrates along the Atlantic 

 coast to the West Indies, and has even been recorded from 

 Brazil. 



Habits. On its northward journey in spring, the present 

 species is far less often observed than on its return in autumn, 

 when it is very plentiful. At the former time of year it is also 

 much more shy, and seems intent upon reaching its Arctic 

 breeding home with as much expedition as possible. In the 

 autumn, on the contrary, it is not only much more plentiful, but 

 is very much tamer. It is found either singly or in small flocks 

 in most of our tidal harbours, where its cheerful note, which is 



