Knot — Tringa Canutus, Linnæus
In autumn numbers of this species visit our shores, where for a few weeks it is one of the commonest birds, being found on all our coasts except in the west of Scotland. Large numbers leave us again after a few weeks’ sojourn, but a fair number remain with us in wide estuaries or sheltered bays throughout the winter. A return migration takes place in spring, the birds being then in the full red plumage of the breeding season; but these soon pass on and only a few weakly and non-breeding birds are left with us during the summer.
For a long time the breeding home of this bird was unknown, and even though it was discovered breeding over thirty years ago, it is only within the last four or five years that authentic eggs have been obtained and brought home from East Siberia. Its chief breeding-grounds are the Arctic regions of North America and the north of Greenland, and in winter it is found down both sides of the Atlantic.
In its food and habits it does not differ from its congeners, with whom it may often be found associating.
In winter the adult is grey on the upper parts and white below, with a few greyish flecks or bars on the upper breast. The young bird is browner, with light margins to the feathers of the back, the breast pale buff pink, with a few grey flecks. In nuptial plumage the head and neck are reddish brown, streaked with black; upper parts black, the feathers having marginal spots of chestnut and white tips; under parts chestnut, spotted with black; vent and flanks whitish, mottled with black. Length 10 in.; bill 1·5 in.; wing 6·5 in.