NON-INDIGENOUS BRITISH BIRDS. 273 



hollow amongst the sedge, rushes, or grass, scantily 

 lined with dry grass and withered leaves. When dis- 

 turbed at its nesting place, this Stint becomes very 

 demonstrative and noisy, often betraying the locality of 

 the nest by careering wildly about above it. When it 

 finds that its secret is actually known it becomes much 

 quieter, unnaturally tame and confiding, and endeavours 

 to draw all attention upon itself. 



Range of egg colouration and measurement : 

 The eggs of Temminck's Stint are four in number. 

 They are pyriform in shape, smooth in texture, and 

 vary from pale buff to pale olive of various shades in 

 ground colour, spotted and blotched with reddish-brown 

 and dark brown, and with underlying markings of paler 

 brown and gray. The large markings, as usual, are 

 most numerous on the major half of the ^gg, sometimes 

 forming a semi-confluent zone or irregular cap, but the 

 smaller spots are pretty evenly distributed over most 

 of the surface. Occasionally a few dark streaks occur 

 on the larger end of the ^gg. Average measurement, 

 1*1 inch in length, by '85 inch in breadth. Incubation 

 appears to be performed by the male, but the duration 

 of the period is unknown. 



Diagnostic characters : There is no reliable 

 character by which the eggs of Temminck's Stint can 

 be distinguished from those of the Little Stint and 

 several other allied species. Careful identification at 

 the nest is absolutely necessary. 



