426 Letters, Announcements, fyc. 



small bivalve shells and two entire minute univalves. Intes- 

 tine thick and whitish, narrower near rectum, 10*5 inches 

 long; caecoid appendage 4-75 from anus, -3 long, *1 thick; 

 caeca '75 from anus, 1*2 long, bulging towards ends, and end- 

 ing in a point. 



These birds were perfect strangers to the marketmen ; and 

 they had no name for them. 



On the 17th I noticed a few of the eastern Little Stint (T. 

 salina, Pall.), and of Temminck's Stint (T. temmincki); but 

 these are too small to meet much attention from the pot-sup- 

 pliers. Spring Snipe {Gallinago megala, mihi) were just ar- 

 riving from the south, and mixed with them a few Pin- tailed 

 Snipes (G. horsfieldi, Gray). I had hunted in vain for this 

 last species before. The only Snipe obtainable during winter 

 about Shanghai is the common G. scolopacina. The Pin-tail 

 does not appear to remain in that neighbourhood, as it does 

 about Amoy, Canton, and in Formosa. 



On the 18th I found a solitary Pigmy Curlew (Numenius 

 minutus, Gould) ; and almost every day afterwards there were 

 one or two in the market. I took notes on the first male. 



Numenius minutus, $ . Length 12*5 inches. Wing 7*5, 

 '13 longer than tail, '85 longer than tertiaries; first quill 

 longest. Tail 32, '6 longer than under tail-coverts, 1*2 longer 

 than upper tail-coverts ; outer rectrix *3 shorter than centrals. 

 Bare part of tibia 1 inch ; tarse 2*23 , middle toe 1*3 ; its 

 claw '2 ; colour light yellowish grey, dark on joints of toes, 

 claws black. Bill from forehead 1*88, from gape 2*18, curved 

 downwards, fleshy buff on basal two thirds, blackish brown 

 on apical third and on culmen. 



Dissection. Male with small testes. Intestine thick, -19 

 inch long ; caeca 1 inch from anus, '75 and *65 long, '15 thick, 

 and pointed; caecoid appendage 8*5 inches from anus, *5 long, 

 and pointed. Gizzard oval, with very strong lateral tendons, 

 1*15 long by -9 broad ; epithelium thick, containing fragments 

 of shells and some rice-like seeds. 



I got two more males, one the same size as the above, the 

 other smaller, with shorter legs and toes. No females were 

 brought. 



