JANUARY 5 



took from the ovary of a knot shot in Discovery Bay 

 'a completely formed hard-shelled egg ready to be 

 laid.' Nevertheless, no authentic specimen of a knot's 

 egg is known to exist in any collection. Those who 

 know the stringent nature of an oologist's quest will 

 best understand the significance of that fact. Of the 

 curlew-sandpiper's breeding-ground absolutely nothing 

 is known. 



Now consider how the knot spends its existence. 

 Leaving the Polar lands on the approach of winter, 

 vast multitudes of this little bird, scarcely bigger than 

 a common snipe, pass southward through Europe, 

 Asia, and America, lingering a while on our shores, as 

 well as elsewhere in the temperate zone, then moving 

 on and on, over such prodigious space that, before 

 they turn northward again on the approach of spring, 

 many of them have penetrated to Surinam, Brazil, 

 South Africa, China, and even to Queensland and New 

 Zealand. Not the least marvellous feature in this 

 annual journey is that it is not the old birds that lead 

 the way, but the earliest nights to arrive on our shores 

 in autumn are composed entirely of young birds on 

 their first trip. 



Herr Gatke has noticed something of the same kind 

 in regard to the migration of starlings. These are the 

 first birds to make their appearance in Heligoland at 

 the beginning of the southward movement, as early 

 as the last week in June; but the earliest flights 

 consist entirely of young starlings of the same season. 

 The next travellers to put in an appearance are old 



