ETT SiN. 29 
Or 
LITTLE STINT. Zringa minuta (Leisler). 
Coloured Figures. —Gould, ‘Birds of Great Britain,’ vol. iv, 
pl. 72; Dresser, ‘ Birds of Hurope,’ vol. viii, pls. 549, 
550, fig. 1, 552, fig. 1; Lilford, ‘Coloured Figures,’ vol. v, 
pl. 35. 
The Little Stint, one of the smallest and most attractive 
of shore-birds, visits the eastern coasts of England on its 
spring and autumn migrations. Though nowhere plentiful, 
it is not uncommon about the mud-flats of Norfolk. The 
great majority of the birds, however, pass east of our shores, 
thus only the westerly edge of the line of migrants reaches 
us. The Little Stint visits the east side of Scotland 
regularly in the autumn, and has been frequently observed 
in the Orkneys and Shetlands (Saxby); on the southern 
and western sides of Great Britain it is rarer and more 
irregular in its visits. It probably occurs every autumn 
along the northern and eastern sides of Ireland, but in 
varying and limited numbers. Along the rest of the Irish 
coast it 1s rare, and has been recorded only once as a spring 
migrant (Thompson). The visits of the Little Stint to our 
shores are of brief duration; there seem to be no records 
of it remaining throughout the winter or summer months. 
Immature birds generally appear between the end of August 
and October,' and I have seen more birds early in September 
than in any other month of the year. On September 7th, 
1892, numbers appeared on the slob-lands of Dublin Bay ; 
I saw quite sixty birds,“ an unusual sight on the Irish 
coast. They consorted for the most part with small flocks 
of Dunlins on the ooze, but some kept company with 
Sanderlings and Turnstones on the hard, ribbed sand by the 
edge of the tide. Their activity was really amazing. They 
ran to and fro, flitting about like sprites, several times out- 
stripping their larger companions in the race along the 
beach. It was amusing to see half-a-dozen of these tiny 
shore-birds scampering after a Turnstone which was assidu- 
ously foraging on the broken line of dead sea-wrack; so 
' The latest date at which I have observed this species was October 
7th (‘Irish Naturalist,’ 1899, p. 254). 
° Two to four are the usual numbers that I have seen together ; 
Thompson met with nine together, the largest group he had ever seen 
(Nat. Hist. Irel.). 
