132 KN O T OR ASH-COLOURED SANDPIPER.
and this with the Same dexterity as several other species, Its flight is
swift, at times rathfer elevated, and well smstaibeib;! At their first arrival
in autumn, when they are occasionally seen in great numbers in
the same .flock, their aerial ¡evolutions arc very bealiiii'ul. for, like our
Parrakeet, PassengerPigBon, Riceibfed, Red-winged Starling, and other
birds, they follow each other in their course, with a celerity that seems
almost iiicompn'hensible, when the individual* are so near each other that
one might suppose it impossible for them to turn and wheel withiSpt interfering
with each other. At such times, their lower ¡md upper parts are
alternately seen, the flock, exhibiting now a dusky appearance, ¡and again
gleaming like a meteor«
Many of these: young birds continue mottled IbS®! dull reddishorange
on their lower parts until the winter'is far advanced. The old
individuals have.their whole upper plumage of a uniform greyed/their
lower parts white. As those of the first year have their markings at
that season handsomer than at any other-period of their lives, I have
given the figure of one in preference to that of an adult.
1 It has been supposed by' M p p f ^ ' ¡ t w o different species of Knot
occur in the- United States,: but I am of a different opinion..: The dimensions
of birds of this family, as well ai of many others, are extremely
'variable; and, on shooting eight or ten Knots, it would be diffifflilt to
find two of them having exactly the samg size and proportions. If I.
add to this the very remarkable changes o! plumage exhibited by birds
of this family before and after maturity, you will not think it strange
that AVii SON should have mistaken the young of the Knot for a separate
species from the old bird in its spring dress: Indeed, I am obliged
to tell you that I have-been much puzzled, when, on picking Up several
of these birds frjrni the same flock, I have found some having longer , and
thicker bills than others, with as strangeia differences® the size of their
eyes. These differences. ! have endeavoured to represent in my plate.
My friend J o h n Bachman states, that this species is quite abundant,
in South Carolina, in its autumn and Spring migrations, but that
he has never seen there in full plumage. In that country it ¡is
called-thef May Bird," which,rhowever, is a name also given to the
Rice Bird. Along the coasts ojMitr Middle District, it is usually known
by the name of " Grey-back."
K N O T OR ASH-COLOURED SANDPIPER.
133
^mmmmmmmI BmEMMMmToM MM
J t o - „ K E 1 < T K , ; S . f T . , » « » , " ' « ' ^ Ornith. vol. vii. p. 43, pi.
57, H 5. Summer.
T . « « « " . « . ^ 0nUth' V0L P' 3 '
— ¡ 3 BB H H B I N ,
T r i k g a OHnou, ' IUTOA <mi Smms. J?a«a Bor.-Amer. vol. n , p.. 387-
Adult Male in Summer. Plate CCCXV. Fig. 1,
Bill rather longer tban.the;head, slender, straight, compressed, tapering,
with the tip.a little enlarged .,n,l blunt. Upper mandible wrth
the dorsal line straight, and slightly decimate, the .ridge narrow and
— — the end, when it becomes considerably H |
the sides slopmg, the tap convex above and ending in a blunt point the
— 1 and: — groove ««tending to near the tap ;
nostrils basal, linear, pervious. I.ower m a * with the angle long
and very narrow, the dorsal line straight, the sides sloping, outwards,
with a long narrow groove, the tip a little broader, but tapermg.
Head rather — — E y e s of .moderate size..
Neck of ordinary length Body rather full. Feet rather long, slender;
tibia bare, I third part of ite length I tarsus somewhat compressed, anteriorly
sad posteriorly with numerous small «uteUa; hind toe very
small, the rest of, ^ d e r a t e length, slender, the fourth slightly longer
8 — the third longest ;, a l l free, hroadly marginat5, flattened
WWSB and with numerous, scutella abovS
K Claws small, slightly
arched, compressed, rather "btuse, that of. the third toe much larger, .
with the inner,edge dilated. , iiiii -.vit-' ••••'W.-iv.: . ...-¡.'¡ri;^'.;^-
Plumage yrey soft,, blended on the head, neck, and lower parts, the
feathers rather'distinct above. Wings very long and pointed; prima,
W — W W — 1 longest, the second two-twelfths of an
inch shorter, the rest rapidly decreasing ; outer secondaries slightly m-
' cmSd, inner elongated,, straight and tapering, one of them extending
when the wing is closed, to an inch and a quarter from its tap. Tad
rather s t o * ne»r§eyen, of twelye.rather broad feathers which taper
to. a b r o a f l . f s i ^ : ^
Bill and feet black, Iris dark hazel. . Upper part of the head and
hind neck light grey, tinged with buff, and longitudinally streaked with
dusky; fore part of back and scapulars, variegated with, brownish-black