407 
during the Arctic Expedition 1875-76. 
-jf-10. Tringa canutus. Knot. 
I was not so fortunate as to obtain the eggs of this species 
during my stay in the polar regions, though it breeds in some 
numbers along the shores of Smith Sound and the north coast 
of Grinnell Land. It appears to be common throughout the 
Parry Islands during summer, as Sabine found it (1820) 
nesting in great numbers on Melville Island. I find it enu¬ 
merated in a list of birds (preserved in the archives of the 
Admiralty) as procured by Dr. Anderson, of H.M.S. f Enter¬ 
prise/ at Cambridge Bay (lat. 69° 10' N.) in July 1853. On 
the 28th July, 1875, Dr. Coppinger came across a party of 
six Knots several miles inland from Port Poulke : these birds 
were feeding near a rill, and were very wild ; but he managed 
to secure a single specimen, a male in full breeding-plumage. 
August 25, 1875, I observed several of these birds near the 
water-edge in Discovery Bay (lat. 81° 44' N.). The rills and 
marshes were by this time frozen, and the birds were feeding 
along the shore on the small crustaceans so common in the 
arctic seas ; in pursuit of their food they ran breast-high into 
the water. By this date they had lost their breeding-plumage. 
On 5th June, 1876, when camped near Knot Harbour, Grin¬ 
nell Land (lat. 82° 33' N.), we noticed the first arrival of these 
birds ; a flock of fourteen or more were circling over a hill¬ 
side, alighting on bare patches, and feeding eagerly on the 
buds of Saxifraga oppositifolia. Subsequently we met with 
this bird in considerable numbers; but they were always very 
wild and most difficult of approach. The cry of the Knot is 
wild, and something like that of the Curlew. Immediately 
after arrival in June they began to mate, and at times I noticed 
two or more males following a single female; at this season 
they soar in the air, like the common Snipe, and when de¬ 
scending from a height beat their wings behind the back with 
a rapid motion, which produces a loud whirring noise. During 
the month of July my companions and I often endeavoured 
to discover the nest of this bird; but none of us were suc¬ 
cessful ; however, on the 30th July, 1876, the day before we 
broke out of our winter-quarters, where we had been frozen- 
in eleven months, three of our seamen, walking by the border 
