i io BRITISH SEA BIRDS. 



with during summer by various travellers. The 

 Knot is another bird remarkable for the great 

 seasonal changes which its plumage undergoes. In 

 winter, the plumage is ash-gray above, white below ; 

 in summer, the feathers of the upper parts become 

 black margined with reddish-brown and mixed with 

 white, those of the lower parts rich bay or chestnut. 

 It has been remarked that the birds that winter on 

 our coasts do not assume such rich tints in summer 

 as individuals that pass along our coasts from more 

 southern latitudes. This is probably because the 

 birds wintering with us are younger individuals, 

 only the oldest penetrating to the remoter winter 

 home. The Knot has a wide distribution during 

 winter, including the Southern States, and Mexico, 

 Africa, and it is said Australia, and New Zealand ! 

 It is possible that in the latter countries the Eastern 

 Knot the Tringa crassirostris of science is con- 

 fused with the present species. 



CURLEW SANDPIPER. 



This pretty little species, known to many as the 

 " Pygmy Curlew," and to modern naturalists by the 

 scientific name of Tringa siibarquata, is one of the 

 rarest of the British Limicolae. It very closely 

 resembles the Knot in the colour of its plumage, 

 and in the seasonal changes that plumage undergoes, 

 but it is not much more than three-fourths the size, 

 and has a curved Curlew-like bill. This little Sand- 

 piper, like most of its order, is a migrant, breeding 



