GRALLATORES. 197 



Sandpiper, has such a very different appearance in 

 summer and winter, that in these two states of 

 plumage it might well be considered as belonging to 

 two distinct species. During the summer months the 

 general colour of the Knot, from chin to vent, is a 

 bright chesnut, while the back is prettily mottled with 

 brown, grey, and buff. After the autumnal moult 

 the colour of the under parts gradually gets lighter 

 and lighter, until, in mid-winter, it is pure white, at 

 which time the upper part of the head and back is 

 almost of a uniform grey. A precisely similar change 

 is observed in the Blacktailed and Bartailed God- 

 wits, and in the Curlew Sandpiper, although these 

 birds never become so purely white beneath as the 

 Knot. 



Upon examining the contents of the stomach of 

 two Knots killed in May, I found in one of them 

 three shells of the common periwinkle, and in the 

 other about one hundred and fifty small univalve 

 shells belonging to the genera Rissoa and Turbo. 



LITTLE STINT, Tringaminuta. Occasionally found 

 at our reservoirs during the periodical migrations 

 in spring and autumn, but more commonly at the 

 latter season, when the little flocks which arrive here 

 consist chiefly of young birds. 



Towards the end of August, 1862, five Little 

 Stints, two old and three young, were shot at the 

 Reservoir at Kingsbury, and one of them, an adult 

 female, I obtained for my collection. 



s 3 



