416 SCOLOPACIDJE. 



The late Surgeon Anderson of H.M.S. ' Enterprise ' shot 

 a female bird in Cambridge Bay, lat. 69 N., on the 9th 

 July, 1853 ; but none of these earlier explorers appear to 

 have brought back any eggs of the species. 



On the late Arctic Expedition Major H. W. Feilden, 

 naturalist to H.M.S. ' Alert,' when camped on Grinnell 

 Land, in 82 33' N. lat., on 5th June, 1876, observed the 

 arrival of a flock of about fourteen, which alighted on bare 

 patches and fed eagerly on the buds of Saxifraga oppositifolia. 

 Subsequently the birds arrived in considerable numbers, 

 beginning to mate immediately, and at times two males 

 might be seen following a single female ; at this season 

 they soar high in the air like the Common Snipe, and when 

 descending from a height beat their wings behind the back 

 with a rapid motion which produces a loud whirring noise. 

 On the 30th July, 1876, an old bird accompanied by three 

 nestlings was obtained on the border of a small lake not far 

 from the ' Alert.' The old bird proved to be a male ; its- 

 stomach, and those of the young ones, were filled with 

 insects (Ibis, 1877, p. 407). Mr. H. Chichester Hart, 

 naturalist to H.M.S. < Discovery,' obtained in 81 44 / N. 

 lat. a brood of four, disturbed from the nest, on the llth 

 July. The nest was placed under a large flat stone, resting 

 on two others, which formed a sort of gangway ; it was 

 merely of leaves and dry grass, loosely laid together on the 

 earth by the edge of a stream ; but no trace of the eggshells 

 was found. Upon the following day three more young were 

 caught ; these were apparently a couple of days out of the 

 shell, grotesque little things, very lively and active, with large 

 dark eyes, the body very small, and the wing-pinions just 

 showing. Their feet were almost as large as those of the 

 full-grown bird, and they were able to run at a marvellous 

 rate. Both the young broods were found three or more 

 miles inland, and in each case close to a stream (Zool. 1880, 

 p. 205). A pair of adults and three downy nestlings form a 

 beautiful mounted group in the Natural History Department 

 of the British Museum. 



The distribution of the Knot in the Arctic regions is far 





