216 



BRITISH BIRDS. 



very handsome eggs^ scarcely to be distinguished from those of the Little 

 Stint, and except in size from those of the Dunlin j sometimes the ground- 

 colour is almost concealed by the spots, causing the eggs to resemble those 

 of the Broad-billed Sandpiper. They vary in length from 1-15 to '95 inch, 

 and in breadth from "85 to '75 inch. When alarmed at the nest the 

 sitting bird often performs various alluring antics to decoy the intruder 

 from its treasure. If not much disturbed, the parent is said soon to return 

 to its charge, but to become very wary if fired at. Only one brood is 

 reared in the year, and as soon as the young are fledged the little birds 

 seem anxious to return south again before the tempests sweep over the 

 Arctic wilds. 



By the middle of July the American Stints begin to appear in their 

 wonted autumnal haunts in the States; as August approaches their number 

 increases, but the main flocks do not arrive before September. In autumn 

 and winter they often congregate with other Waders, frequenting the mud- 

 flats, weed-covered rocks, masses of drifting seaweed, or the sandy shore 

 strewn with all kinds of marine refuse. The flesh of this bird is said to be 

 excellent. 



The American Stint exactly resembles the Little Stint in all its changes 

 of plumage, and can scarcely be regarded as more than a local race of that 

 bird. A series of birds from the New World can always be distinguished 

 from a series from the Old World ; but if the smallest, blackest, and least 

 chestnut birds be selected from the Old- World series, and mixed with the 

 largest, least black, and most chestnut examples from the New- World scries, 

 it would be impossible to separate them. The diff'ereutiation between the 

 two forms is probably not yet complete, and possibly it is prevented from 

 becoming so by their habitual interbreeding on the shores of the Behring 

 Sea and the occasional emigration of American birds to Western Europe. 

 The American Stint varies in length of wing from 3'3 to 3'6 inch, whilst 

 the Little Stint varies from 3'6 to 4"0 inch. Typical examples of the 

 American form have slightly paler legs, a somewhat more spotted breast, 

 and the black centres of the feathers of the upper parts are slightly more 

 developed, whilst their chestnut margins are narrower. These are very 

 slight characters, and only apply to typical examples, the range of indi- 

 vidual variation entirely covering the difference between the two forms. 



