230 THE BIEDS OF SUSSEX. 



and is found in small pavtics_, and occasionally in very large 

 flocks^ on tlie beach and sands as well as on the mud flats. 



When disturbed on the sea-side they fly in a compact body 

 and make a semicircular excursion over the sea_, returning to 

 the beach at a few hundred yards distance. During these 

 flights the whole body wheel and turn all together, showing 

 at one moment the dark plumage of the back, and at the 

 next the pure white of the nnderparts, and uttering a loud 

 but somewhat soft cry, '' Tui, Tui.^-" While feeding the bird 

 runs very swiftly, and is very restless, constantly shifting 

 from place to place, following each receding wave and picking 

 np marine insects, worms, and small Crustacea. It seldom 

 proceeds up the rivers beyond the influence of the tide. It 

 goes northward to breed on the moors of England and 

 Scotland, sometimes on mountains at a considerable height 

 above the sea, forming the nest in a dry tuft of sedge or 

 rushes_, lining it with small pieces of grass and heather. 



LITTLE STINT. 

 Tringa minuta. 



In the latter part of May, or the beginning of June, small 

 parties of this little wader may be found along the coast, 

 many more arriving in August and September. Mr. Booth 

 mentions that a heavy gale from the south-east not unfre- 

 quently brings numbers to the coast of Sussex as late as 

 October, thus checking their southerly migration. It is 

 occasionally met with on the mud of the harbour at Shore- 

 ham, and in the salt-marshes in the neighbourhood, in fact 

 on suitable spots all along the coast. In the eastern division 

 one of its favourite haunts was formerly a piece of marsh 



