OF THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 261 



in their winter quarters in Ceylon, so that it is not improbable 

 many individuals mate before they migrate. Its great breeding 

 grounds, I am inclined to think, are in the North Polar basin, in 

 undiscovered land north of Continental Asia — some El Dorado 

 where the Knots also retire in countless numbers to rear their 

 offspring. Odd birds have been shot on the Siberian tundras during 

 summer, but some of these are evidently non-breeding individuals 

 that have lingered south of the nesting grounds. Even the bird 

 obtained by Middendorff on the Taimyr peninsula, with a partially 

 shelled egg in the oviduct, may have been on its way to more 

 northern haunts ; besides, the few examples seen on the Siberian 

 tundras are utterly insignificant in comparison with the vast 

 numbers that are known to pass north each spring. 



Diagnostic Characters. — Tringa, with the bill decurved 

 and the upper tail coverts white. Length, 7 to 8 inches. 



