59° temminck's stint. 



Ireland in January 1848 : a very remarkable date, inasmuch as, with 

 this exception, the bird has not been known to remain during the 

 winter in the United Kingdom. 



Temminck's Stint breeds as far south as Trondhjem in Norway, 

 and in those parts of Sweden, Russia and Siberia which lie beyond 

 the limits of forest-growth ; also, it is said, in the Stanowoi Moun- 

 tains. On its migrations, which extend to the Malay Archipelago, 

 it visits China, crosses the Asian tableland to India, and descends 

 both sides of Africa, to lat. 10° N. on the east side and to Sene- 

 gambia on the west. A considerable number, however, spend the 

 winter in the Mediterranean basin, and on passage the bird is found 

 on the shores as well as on many of the inland w^aters of Europe ; 

 it is, in fact, far more partial than the Little Stint to rivers, lakes 

 and ponds. 



The nidification of this species was first made known to us by 

 Wolley, who found the bird breeding, somewhat locally, to the 

 north of the Gulf of Bothnia. The nest, seldom far from water, is 

 a scantily-lined depression in sedge, rushes or short gras;S ; the eggs, 

 4 in number, vary from pale buff to greenish-grey, blotched with 

 several shades of brown : measurements n by '8 in. Prof. Collett 

 never found the females near the nest or young, and the brooding- 

 birds which he shot were all males with large incubation-spots ; but 

 the Rev. H. H. Slater, Mr. Popham and others have shot females 

 from the nest. In the courting-season both birds may be seen 

 hovering or floating in the air like butterflies, uttering a "very 

 musical little warble "' (H. 11. Slater). The usual call-note in 

 autumn is a sharp piirr. The food consists of worms, marine 

 insects, and larvae of StaphylinidcE ; fragments of grit being taken to 

 aid digestion. 



The adult in summer-plumage has the feathers of the upper 

 parts greyish-brown with darker streaks, and with broad blackish 

 bars on the mantle ; the shaft of the outer primary nearly 7i'hite, 

 the other shafts dusky, like the rest of the quills ; wing-coverts 

 lipped with white ; the two outer pairs of tailfeathers zclu.'e ; 

 throat and breast buffish-brown with darker streaks ; under partr; 

 and axillaries white ; bill blackish ; legs and feet greenish-rrcy in 

 life. Length 575 in. (bill -6), wing 3-8 in. The sexes are a'uic in 

 plumage. After the autumn moult the dark markings on the back 

 are lost, and the general colour is similar to that of the Common 

 Sandpiper. In the young bird the upper feathers are tipped with 

 grey ; the breast shows few spots ; the outer tail-feathers are less 

 purely white, and the legs are yellowish. 



