68 SCOLOPACID.E. 



line, on strong wings, with regular strokes, generally not 

 more than a few feet above the surface of the ground or 

 water. The present species is not very shy, and may 

 easily be approached within gun-shot, provided it is not 

 frequently disturbed ; on its arrival in the autumn, it is 

 indeed so unwary, that when a shot is fired into a flock of 

 them with fatal effect, the survivors on the sands rise in a 

 body, and, after circling round about, frequently alight again 

 among their slaughtered companions. In former times, Knots 

 were captured by means of nets, like those used for ruffs at 

 present, and the birds were kept in confinement and fed 

 plentifully, in order to improve their condition. This proves 

 that the bird may be kept in confinement ; and we think 

 it strange that advantage has never been taken of this, in 

 order to obtain a specimen of an egg of this bird, which 

 is hitherto unknown to European ornithologists. The 

 call-note uttered by the Knot is a sharp, high-toned twee ! 

 twee ! well known to persons residing near the sea-coast, 

 and most frequently uttered in the spring of the year, 

 when a flock of the birds take wing. Its food consists 

 of aquatic insects, small worms, and the larvse of most 

 insects, which it searches for early and late in the day, 

 and during moonlight nights. During the daytime, the 

 Knot roosts, or goes about lazily. When in confinement, 

 this species readily consumes bread and milk, with small 

 worms, or finely-chopped raw meat. 



Concerning the propagation of the Knot, nothing is 

 satisfactorily known, if we except a statement of Dr. 

 Richardson, who informs us that it breeds in the Hudson's 

 Bay, where its four eggs are deposited on a bare tuft of 

 withered grass. 



The Knot measures ten inches in length. 



The summer plumage of the adult male is of a uniform 



