700 THE DUNLIN. 



When attired in its full summer plumage the male Knot is a really handsome bird. 

 The sides of the head are bright chestnut with a few dark spots, and the top of the head 

 is a deeper chestnut with dark brown streaks. The upper part of the back is richly 

 mottled, the centre of each feather being black, and the edges warm chestnut and white. 

 The greater wing-coverts are ashen grey, the primaries black with white shafts, the 

 secondaries edged with white, and the upper tail-coverts rusty white, edged with white and 

 barred with black. The tail is dark ash edged with white, and the under surface is warm 

 ruddy chestnut, fading into white on the under tail-coverts. After the breeding season all 

 the rich warm tints are lost, and the bird assumes a sober dress of ashen grey above, 

 black wings, and the under surface white streaked with grey. The length of the Knot is 

 about ten inches. 



The PIGMY CURLEW, or CURLEW SANDPIPER, is so called on account of the form of its 

 beak, which bears some resemblance to that of the Curlew, although it is much smaller 

 and not so sharply curved. 



This bird is a visitor to our shores, but is not plentiful. Mr. Thompson remarks that 

 " as it appears on the shore it is a graceful, pretty bird, and particularly interesting from 

 presenting so pleasing a miniature of the great Curlew. I have often known the Pigmy 

 Curlew to be killed in company with dunlins, occasionally with them and ring dottrells, 

 once with those two species and godwits, in a single instance with redshanks and knots." 

 In some years these birds are more plentiful, and may be seen in little flocks of thirty or 

 forty in number. Sixty were killed at a single shot in Cork harbour in the year 1847, in 

 the month of October. 



The voice of this bird is a kind of chattering noise. The eggs are yellowish white, 

 spotted with dark brown. 



The summer plumage of the male is warm chestnut, slightly streaked with black and 

 white upon the head and neck. The back is beautifully mottled with black and ruddy 

 chestnut, each feather being of the darker hue in the centre, and edged with the lighter. 

 The wings are black with white shafts, the upper tail-coverts are white with dark spots, 

 and the tail is ashen grey. The breast and abdomen are warm chestnut with faint bars of 

 black, and the under tail-coverts are white spotted with black. In winter the bird 

 assumes quite a different aspect. The head and back of the neck are ashen brown, and a 

 stripe of white runs over the eye. The back is also ashen brown mottled with white ; the 

 wings are black, and the whole of the under surface of the body is white. The upper 

 tail-coverts retain their white hue, and by these alone the Pigmy Curlew may be distin- 

 guished from the dunlin. In length this bird rather exceeds eight inches. 



TEMMINCK'S STINT is remarkable for being the smallest of the British Sandpipers, the 

 average length being about five inches and a half. 



This little bird is rarely found on our coast, preferring inland rivers and sheets of 

 water, where it feeds upon worms and aquatic insects. It is said by Nilsson to breed on 

 the shores of the seas of northern Europe. 



The colouring is briefly as follows : The head is black with a little rusty red, and a 

 light streak passes over the eye. The back is dull black, mottled with greyish white and 

 rust colour. The wings are blackish brown with whitish edges, and the tail has the two 

 middle feathers dusky, the next pair ashen edged with ruddy chestnut, and the remainder 

 white. The breast is ashen yellow streaked with white, and the under parts of the body 

 are white. This is the summer plumage. In winter the feathers of the back are brown 

 edged with grey, and the breast becomes white streaked sparingly with brown. 



The DUNLIN is known under a variety of names, such as the Stint, the Ox-bird, the 

 Sea-snipe, and the Purre, the last of which is the most common. 



This bird is the commonest of the sea-loving Sandpipers, and comes to our shores in 

 large flocks, keeping close to the edge of the waves, running along the sands and pecking 

 eagerly at the molluscs, worms, and smaller Crustacea, which are so plentiful on the 

 margin of the retiring waves. They are nimble-limbed birds, always on the move, and 





