396 SCOLOPACID/E. 



UMICOLA^.. . SCOLOPACIDM. 



Tringa minutilla, Vieillot.* 

 THE AMERICAN STINT. 



The American Stint has been obtained in this country 

 on two occasions. Tbe first example was shot by Mr. 

 Vingoe, in Mount's Bay, Cornwall, on tbe 10th October, 

 1853. It was found alone on a piece of wet grass land 

 adjoining the sea-shore, and rose silently. Mr. Yingoe called 

 the attention of Mr. Rodd to it, and he recorded it (Zool. p. 

 4297) ; and the occurrence was also noticed under the name 

 of Tringa 2^ttsilh( in the Preface, p. vi., to the 3rd Edition 

 of tbis work. In September, 1869, a second example was 

 shot on Northam Burrows, near Bideford, by Mr. Richards, 

 of Clifton (Zool. s. s. p. 2025^, who brought the freshly- 

 skinned specimen to Mr. Harting for his inspection, and its 

 identity was vouched for by that competent authority (Hbk. 

 Brit. Birds, p. 143). The species has therefore as good a 

 claim to be noticed in this work as many other stragglers ; 

 but as an engraving would not adequately show the points of 

 difference between it and the Little Stint, it has not been 

 considered necessary to figure it. The American Stint is 

 smaller in size than our bird, with proportionately longer 

 bill ; it is conspicuously darker at all seasons ; in the breed- 

 ing plumage the fore part of the chest is ashy-buff, with 

 distinct spots of dark brown — not rufous with tiny dots 

 as in T. minnta — and the legs are light yellowish-brown, 

 whereas in T. niinnfd they are black. 



The breeding-range of the American Stint extends right 

 across North America, within the limits of the Hudsonian 

 fauna. Audubon found it plentiful in Labrador, among the 

 mossy rocks near the sea-shore ; and he describes the nest 

 as a hollow lined with a few blades of slender dry grass, the 

 locality chosen being under the lee of a small rock, exposed 

 to all the heat the sun can afford in that country. The eggs 

 * Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. xxxiv. p. 4.52 (18] 9). 



