TEMMINCK'S STINT. 5 



clutches on one of the islands, on June 25th. In each case the male bird was 

 sitting. The colour of the male harmonized much more with the herbage than 

 that of the female. We had visited this island previously on the 17th ; but, 

 although we saw some of these birds and searched carefully, no nests were found, 

 therefore most of the eggs must have been laid during the week intervening. The 

 nests were all placed in short grass about 6 in. high — generally containing some 

 dried grass of last year — on dry ground, not far from the houses, but the positions 

 varied much, some on mounds or sides of mounds, some in hollows, others on 

 level ground." 



The late Mr. H. Seebohm writes * • — " The eggs of Temminck's Stint are 

 four in number, and vary in ground-colour from pale buff to pale olive and pale 

 greyish green ; they are spotted and blotched with reddish brown and dark brown, 

 and with underlying markings of pale brown and purplish grey. The markings 

 are largest and most numerous on the large end of the egg, where they are often 

 confluent and form an irregular zone or a large irregular mass. On many eggs 

 there are a few dark streaks on the large end ; and the small spots are generally 

 distributed almost evenly over the entii'e siu'face. The eggs vary in length from 

 1'2 to I'Oo inch, and in breadth from 'ST to "8 inch. It is impossible to give any 

 characters by which the eggs of Temminck's Stint may always be distinguished 

 from those of the Little Stint. As a rule, the eggs of the latter bird are more buff 

 in ground-colour, and the markings are larger, bolder, and a richer brown. 

 Temminck's Stint only rears one brood in the year." 



Prof. Collett states that about ten clutches of eggs of this species, obtained 

 by him in Finmark in 1880, measured from 1'22 to 1'04 inch in length, by "85 to 

 •78 inch in breadth.f 



* ' History of British Birds,' vol. iii. pp. 218, 219, 

 t 'Journal fur Oruithologie,' 1881, p. 331. 



