THE KNOT OR ROBIN SNIPE. 



{Tringa canutus.) 



The Knot or Robin Snipe is a bird of 

 several names, as it is also called the Red- 

 breasted Ash-colored Sandpiper, the 

 Gray-back and the Gray Snipe. It is 

 quite cosmopolitan, breeding in the far 

 north of both hemispheres, but in winter 

 migrating southward and wintering in the 

 climate of the southern United States 

 and Central America. The Knot belongs 

 to the Snipe family (Scolopacidae), which 

 includes one hundred or more species, 

 .about forty-five of which are inhabitants 

 •of North America. Nearly all the species 

 breed in the higher latitudes of the north- 

 ern hemisphere. These birds frequent 

 the shores of large bodies of water and 

 are seldom observed far from their vicin- 

 ity. Their bills are long and are used in 

 seeking food in the soft mud of the shore. 



The Knot visits the great lakes during 

 its migrations and is frequently observed 

 at that time. Its food, which consists of 

 the smaller crustaceans and shells, can be 

 as readily obtained on the shores of these 



lakes as on those of the ocean, which it 

 also follows. 



Dr. Ridgway tells us that "Adult speci- 

 mens vary individually in the relative ex- 

 tent of the black, gray and reddish colors 

 on the upper parts ; gray usually pre- 

 dominates in the spring, the black in mid- 

 summer. Sometimes there is no rufous 

 whatever on the upper surface. The 

 cinnamon color of the lower parts also 

 varies in intensity." 



Little is known of the nest and eggs of 

 the Knot owing to its retiring habits at 

 the nesting time and the fact that it breeds 

 in the region of the Arctic Circle, so lit- 

 tle frequented by man. One authentic re- 

 port, that of Lieutenant A. W. Greely, 

 describes a single egg that he succeeded 

 in obtaining near Fort Conger while 

 commanding an expedition to Lady 

 Franklin Sound. This egg was a little 

 more than an inch in length and about one 

 inch in diameter. Its color was a "light 

 pea-green, closely spotted with brown in 

 small specks about the size of a pinhead." 



VIOLA BLANDA. 



(Sweet White Violet.) 



Serene the thrush's song, all undisturbed, 

 Its rows of pearls, a marvel of completeness, 

 Then the soft drip of falling tears I heard, 

 Poor weeping bird, who envied so thy sweetness! 



Nelly Hart Woodworth. 



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