U2 BIRDS OF TASMANIA. 



Sub- Family — Scolopacinae. 



*LITTLE STINT (Hed-necked Stint) 

 [Limonites ruficolUs, Pallas). 



Mule and Feviale [icDitcr plumage). — Forehead and above the 

 lores white; crown of the head and back ashy-brown, with dark 

 shaft-streaks to the feathers; lower back, rump, and uj^per tail 

 coverts blackish-brown ; sides of lower back and upper tail coverts 

 white; tail feathers smoky-brown; wing coverts rather dark brown, 

 the greater coverts tipped with white ; primary coverts blackish- 

 brown, tips edged with white; quills dark brown, with white 

 shafts; secondaries dark brown, tips fringed with white, also base 

 of inner web white ; lores dusky-brown ; ear coverts light brown ; 

 cheeks, throat, and under surface white; sides of neck brownish; 

 under wing coverts white; bill, legs, and feet black. Dimensions 

 in mm. : — Length, 147; bill, 17; wing, 95; tail, 41; tarsus, 19. 



Male {summer plumage). — " Much more mottled on the upper 

 surface than in winter, the centres of the feathers being blackish 

 and the whole of the upper parts overspread with a brighter 

 chestnut colour, with which the feathers are broadly margined; 

 the crown is blackish, washed with rufous and mottled with grey 

 margins ; the forehead and eyebrows are shaded with bright rufous, 

 and this colour occupies the whole of the sides of the face, sides 

 of neck, throat, and chest, the chin being whitish ; bill and feet 

 black; iris nearly black" (B. M. Cat.) 



Female (su7nmer pluTnage). — Practically similar to that of the 

 male, but slightly less rufous. 



Young. — Upper surface blackish, edged with rufous; hind-neck 

 ashy ; scapular feathers edged with whitish ; fore-neck and chest 

 tinged with buff. 



Nest and Eggs. — Unknown. 



Breeding Season. — Unknown. 



Geographical Distribution. — Tasmania, Australia in general, 

 New Guinea, and the IMalay Archipelago; migrating to Burma, 

 China, Japan, and Eastern Siberia. 



Observations. — The home of this little Sandpiper is Eastern 

 Siberia, where it is supposed to breed. By some writers this 

 species is known as the Ked-necked Stint, to distinguish it from 

 another species, also called the Little Stint, which breeds in 

 Northern Europe and winters in Japan and Ceylon. 



The favourite haunts of the species that visits our shores during 

 the summer are brackish lagoons, arms of the sea, and the shores 

 of rivers flowing into the ocean. In such places it feeds on all 

 manner of marine insects and Crustacea. The Little Stint never 

 visits us in any numbers, as it does Rottnest Island, off the 

 coast of Western Australia. 



During December, 1909, Mr. 11. Stuart Dove observed 

 individuals of this species on the West Devonport beach. 



