392 scolopacidj:. 



within easy shot, and I secured her. The Little Stint 

 seems to he a very quiet bird at the nest, quite different 

 from Temminck's Stint. When you invade a colony of the 

 latter birds, especially if they have young, the parents 

 almost chase you from the spot — flying wildly round and 

 round, and crying vociferously, often perching upon a stake 

 or a tree, or hovering in the air and trilling. We observed 

 none of these habits in the Little Stint. So far as we 

 saw, only the female takes part in incubation, and only 

 the female is seen near the nest. On our way back to the 

 wreck we met with a party of Sanderlings on the shore, and 

 shot two of them. No doubt these birds were breeding 

 somewhere in the district. After a good dinner of Willow- 

 Grouse and a siesta of three hours, we started to take the 

 nest that Piottuch had marked. Whilst we had slept, the 

 weather had changed. The mosquitoes had all gone. A 

 smart gale was blowing from the north, and a heavy sea was 

 breaking on the shore. It was cloudy, and dark, and cold, 

 with an attempt now and then at rain. The nest was a 

 couple of miles off, very near the shore of the inland sea, 

 but on somewhat similar ground — moss, cloudberry, grass, 

 &c. The eggs were intermediate in colour between those 

 of the other two nests. On our return to our quarters we 

 found that our Samoyede servant had caught a young Little 

 Stint, half-grown, a very interesting bird. Like the young 

 of the Dunlin, the first feathers are those of summer 

 plumage. On comparing the young in down and half- 

 grown birds of the Dunlin with those of the Little Stint, 

 we noted that the legs of young Dunlin in down were pale 

 brown, whilst those of the half-grown and mature birds 

 were nearly black; the Little Stint, on the other hand, 

 seems to have nearly black legs and feet at all ages. 



" The Little Stint is evidently much more nearly allied to 

 the Dunlin than to Temminck's Stint, and ought to be 

 called the Little Dunlin. The birds are very similar in 

 colour. The eggs of the Little Stint can hardly be mis- 

 taken for those of Temminck's Stint, but are in every 

 respect miniature Dunlin's eggs. The young in down of 



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