'■yTTJlfST" 



SCULOPACID.E-TIIE SN'IPK FAMILY — TRINOA. 



215 



tirst arrival that season, in large miiiilM-rs ; by tlu' 21.M all had passed on. A line 

 siieeimen [)rocured at that time is now in the CoUeetion of the I'xistun Natural History 

 Soeiety. The hirds when in fair {'ondition are regarded as good eating. 



The Knot is said to teed inineipally on aiinatii' insects and the soft animals in- 

 lialiiting small Itivalve shells. It is also said to he al)le to swim with great ease. 

 Wilson, who has oltserved thicks of these liirds on tiu' sandy shores (d' New Jer- 

 sey, states that their favorite and alnu)st exclnsive food seenu'd to lie small, thin, 

 (ival bivalve shelltisli of a |iearly-white color, which lie at a short distance iielow 

 !lie surfaei', and in some places at low-water occnr in heaps. These are swallowed 

 whole, and, when loosened by the motion of the wavi's, are collected by this bird with 

 great ease and dexterity. While doing this the bird follows the Howing and the re- 

 cession of the waves with great nindileness, and Wil.son adds that it is highly amusing 

 to observe with what adroitness it eludes the tunddihg surf while seendng wholly 

 intent on collecting its food. Audubon has .seen this sjiecics probe the wet .sand on 

 the borders of oozy salt-ma I'shes, thrusting in its bill with the same (h'xterity 

 shown by other s[)tH!ies. Its flight is swift, elevated, and well sustained. The aerial 

 evolutions of these birds, on their first arrival in fall, are said to be very beautiful, 

 antl they follow each other in their course with incredible celerity. 



Dr. IJachman informed Mr. Audubon that the Knot is (pnte abundant in South 

 Carolina in both of its nngrations, liut that it is not known there in its breeding- 

 plumage. It is there called the •• May-bird," and in the michlle districts the '"(iray- 

 back.'' Audubon found it in winter in East Florida; and while in the J]ay of 

 (ialveston, 'I'exas, in thi^ spring of IS.'iT. he ol)served groujis of Ivnuts arriving there 

 in Api'il, and proceeding eastward. 



On liong Island, according to (.Jiraud, it is familiarly known to the luinters both 

 as the " Jxobin-SnijK' " and the •• Ikcd-breasted." In the (Jreat South Hay of that 

 island, where thert^ are innuensu salt-marshes separated by creeks and channi'ls. these 

 liinls abound during tlieir spring migrations. They fre(]nent the shoal ponds, which 

 furnish the small shelltisli on which they chiclly subsist. There they are easily 

 hunted by sportsmen lying in wait near their favorite haunts, and imitating their 

 |icculiar notes so as to bring them within gunshot. At this |)eriod of their migra- 

 tion these birds assemble in flocks and pass northward to their lirceding-jjlaces, 

 n'tuniing with their young about the middle of .Vugust, and then having a very dif- 

 b'rciit plumage from that of spring. They move southward hite in Se|)tember. In 

 its then ashy-gray uiijicr pbiniage it is the White Ivobin-Sniiie of the liOng Island 

 hunters. In the fall it fre(iueiits the inner beaches, and is sometimi's observed along 

 the surf, collecting the minute marine animals east on the shore by the waves. It is 

 said to be more timid in the fall than in the spring, frecpiently passing within hear- 

 ing of the fowler's whistle without apiu'oaching his decoy. This statement of Giraud, 

 ill reference to its wariness in the fall, is in reniarkalile contrast with its almost 

 stupid tameness at the sann- season, on its first arrival in autumn, us noted by Yar- 

 rcll. Sir William .lardine also mentions that he (nice met, in the month of September, 

 on the east sich' of Holy Island, with a large flock which was so tanm as to suffer him 

 to kill as many as he wanted with stones from the beach. Mr. Moore states that 

 this species occurs in Florida during the winter, and that .some remain there during 

 the season. 



This s])ecies. according to Leotaud, visits Trinidad, where, like all the other migra- 

 tory Waders whi(!h visit that island, it arrives in August and leaves in October. It 

 is almost always alone, or very rarely in Hocks of three or tour, and frefpients the 

 borders of the sea. As soon as it alights it immediately begins running with re- 



