NESTS AND EGGS Oh AUSTRALIAN BIRDS. 819 



coadjutor of Goiild, moiUions (hat the Little Stint assembles in large 

 flocks on Rottnest Island. i can bear testinion)- to tliis fact, for diu^ing 

 my visit to Western Australia the birds still wero plentiful on that 

 favourite and uudistiu-bed feeding ground. In going round tlic salt lake 

 on Rottnest (or Rat's Nest of the discoverer Vlaming) Island, I saw flocks 

 of liundreds of the Little Stints or Little Snipe, as the residents 

 call them. They appeared to be partial to the narrow, moist beaches, 

 and were rather loathe to move ; when flushed, however, they simul- 

 taneously rose, eveiy now and again shai-ply wheeling, displaying 

 alternately their dark backs and a flash of white under-sru-faces. 



Further north I sought diligently for the eggs on Houtman's Abrollios, ' 

 where Gilbert alleged he found two, but without success. I now believe 

 Gilbert may have mistaken the eggs of the Red-c<ipped Sandpiper for 

 those of the Little Stint — a mistake easily made, because I noticed 

 in the evening the two species retired from the beaches to roost together 

 in the centre of the islands. However, it would be remarkable if Little 

 Stints' eggs were taken in Australia, seeing the bird is an Arctic 

 breeding species, where it is known in its gayer breeding phunage as 

 the Red (nisty) throated Stint. 



632. — Heteropygi.\ acumtn.\t.\, Horsfiold. — (522) 

 SHARP-TAILED STINT. 



Figure. — Gould : Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vi., pi. 30. 

 Heference. — Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., vol. xxiv., p. 566. 



Geographical Distrihution . — Whole of Australia and Tasmania; also 

 New Zealand, New Guinea and the Malayan Archipelago, migi-ating by 

 China and Japan to breed in the regions of Eastern Siberia and Alaska. 



Nest and Egg.t. — Undescribed. 



Observations. — ^The Sharp-tailed Stiat, or as it is .sometimes caUed, 

 the Marsh Tringa, has been procured in all the States of Australia and 

 Tasmania. These birds are partial to marshy districts and the borders 

 of streams, and run through the grass and herbage much after the 

 manner of true Snipes. They also frequent the sandy beaches of the sea 

 coast either in pairs or small flocks. The food is chiefly aquatic insects 

 and their larvae. This pretty little species of Sandpiper is only between 

 seven inches and eight inches in total length, and much resembles 

 a small Snipe. Here may be given a rough description of the plumage. 

 The feathers of the upper surface are dark-brown in the centre, fading 

 into grey on the margin, and impart a very beautiful appearance to 

 the coat of the bird. The crown of the head and breast wear a, rufous 

 tinge, while the abdomen is whitish ; legs and bill are both about the 

 same length (1-i inches), matching each other in a shade of olive-green, 

 while the eyes are black. 



