576 temminck's stint. 



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

 in the United Kingdom. 



Temminck's Stint breeds in the northern districts of Norway, and 

 in those parts of Sweden, Russia, and Siberia in Asia which He 

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

 Mountains. Its reported occurrence in Japan is the result of an 

 erroneous identification, but it visits China on its migrations — which 

 extend to the Malay Archipelago — -crosses the Central Asian table- 

 land to India, and descends both sides of Africa to lat. 10° N. on 

 the east side, and to Senegambia on the west. A considerable 

 number, however, spend the winter in the Mediterranean basin, and 

 on passage it is found on the shores as well as on many of the inland 

 waters 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 grass ; the eggs, 

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

 several shades of brown : average measurements I'l by "8 in. Prof. 

 CoUett says he has never found the females near the nest or young, 

 and the brooding-birds which he shot were all males with large 

 incubation-spots. In the courting-season both birds may be seen 

 hovering or floating in the air like butterflies, uttering a song which 

 has been compared to that of the Grasshopper-Warbler : the usual 

 call-note in autumn is a sharp pitrr. The food consists of worms, 

 marine insects and larvre 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 ojiter primary nearly white, 

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

 tipped with white ; the ttiw outer pairs of tailfeathers white ; 

 throat and breast bufiish-brown with darker streaks ; under parts 

 and axillaries white ; bill blackish ; legs and feet greenish-brown. 

 Length 6 in. ; wing 3 '8 in. The sexes are alike in plumage. After 

 the autumn moult the dark markings on the back are lost, and the 

 general colour is very similar to that of the Common Sandpiper. 

 In young birds 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. 



