6i2 THE BIRDS OF YORKSHIRE. 



May 1898, was quite exposed to view under a tussock of grass 

 in a wet spot, and visible at fully twenty yards' distance. 



A curious accident to one of these birds is reported by 

 Sir Ralph Payne Gallwey, who found it starved to death, a 

 cockle shell having closed upon the bill so tightly as to muzzle 

 it completely and prevent its feeding, whilst in the winter of 

 1890-91 Mr. F. Boyes saw one at Spurn which was disabled 

 owing to having a cockle attached to its leg {Field, 15th March 

 1884, and 31st January 1890). 



Varieties of plumage are very uncommon ; the only 

 instance of which I have had personal knowledge was one 

 of a nesting pair at the Teesmouth, several years ago, which 

 had a large white patch on one wing. 



Of local names, Stint is the universally accepted term, 

 and by which it has been known for centuries. It is called 

 Purre in the Tunstall MS., and in Wensleydale, according 

 to Barker (1854) 1 Tommy Stint is in use at Spurn ; Jack 

 Plover, in the North Riding dales ; and Judcock and Little 

 Snipe, in Swaledale and Arkengarthdale. 



LITTLE STINT. 



Tringa minuta {Leisler). 



Bird of passage on the coast on the spring and autumn migrations, 

 chiefly at the latter period. Very rare inland. 



Possibly the earliest reference to this, as a Yorkshire 

 bird, is made in Thomas Allis's Report of 1844, when he 

 wrote : — 



Tringa minuta. — Little Sandpiper — F. O. Morris reports six being 

 killed near Redcar on the River Tees. S. Gibson says it is rare near 

 Hebden Bridge, he has a single specimen shot there a few years since ; 

 it has been shot in the neighbourhood of York. 



This diminutive Sandpiper is a bird of passage on the 

 coast line, chiefly during the autumn migration, being most 

 frequently found at the Tees and Humber estuaries ; in some 



