48 Contributions from the Charleston Museum. 



that after all the additions that have been made to our American ornithology, by 

 Wilson, Bonaparte, Cooper, Nuttall, Richardson, and especially by the indefatig- 

 able Audubon, the field still remains open to the investigation of the student of 

 nature and promises a rich reward. 



*From specimens in various stages of plumage, which I posess, of the long-leg- 

 ged sandpiper, I am disposed to believe, that Swainson and Richardson, in their 

 Fauna Boreali-Americana, have been deceived by the variations in the plumage 

 and size to which this bird is subject, and have described it three time under the 

 names of Tringa himantopus, T. Audubonii, and T. Douglassii. 



During the past twenty-five years I have devoted much time 

 and study to the Limicolae, but, as yet I have not taken a speci- 

 men of this rare bird, although I believe I saw a small flock on 

 August 1, 1901, near Mount Pleasant. As I did not secure a 

 specimen in order to place the identification beyond question, 

 I do not wish this record to be accepted as valid until a speci- 

 men is secured. 



The Stilt Sandpiper was found breeding at Rendezvous Lake 

 in the Arctic Regions of North America, by MacFarlane. 



98. Tringa canutus Linn. Knot. 



The earliest date upon which I have observed this beautiful 

 transient visitant in the spring is April 27, 1903, when two were 

 seen on Bull's Island. These waders used to be abundant by 

 the second week in May, but at the present time very few are to 

 be seen while they pass along this coast en route to their breeding 

 grounds in the Arctic regions. On May 18, 1895, I saw, on Long 

 Island beach, a flock of these birds which I estimated to contain 

 fully fifteen hundred individuals, while on May 21 of the same 

 year, I observed a flock that had alighted on the beach, and that 

 comprised without a doubt more than three thousand birds. 



The Knot is a beach bird and its migrations to and from this 

 coast are governed by the presence or absence of a small bivalve 

 which is found a few inches under the sand. It is upon this 

 shellfish that the birds feed almost exclusively. 



A few birds remain until June 5, but the great majority migrate 

 between the 21st and 28th of May. By July 20 they are here 

 again to remain until October 15. I have never seen this species 

 migrating overland in a northwesterly direction like the Red- 

 breasted Snipe. It always seems to follow the coast islands and 

 migrates in a northeasterly direction. 



Dr. Bachman has stated in Audubon's Birds of America, 1 



1 V, 256. 



