i23 BRITISH BIRDS WITH THEIR NESTS AND EGGS. 



sandy-buff; crown nearly black, with a buff collar; a black spot on lores, ear- 

 coverts and hinder crown ; under parts whitish, with a shade of buff on the lower 

 neck (Sharpe, B.M.C.). 



For the distinctions between this bird and Temminck's Stint, see the description 

 of the latter. 



Of the fifteen nests we found in Kolguiev, in 1895, all were but little above 

 high-water-mark, and none higher up the river Goubesta than tidal reach. Some 

 were amongst grass and rushes on the marshy river flats ; some in the middle of 

 a patch of dwarf willow, six inches high, on the banks bordering the flats ; one 

 only amongst grass on the flat tundra above the banks, perhaps half a mile from 

 the river, and fifty feet above it. The nests were mere hollows, lined with a few 

 dead leaves of a small-leaved willow, or vaccinium, and scraps of grass, with a few 

 white feathers, probably off the parents' breasts, as they revolved in the hollow to 

 smooth it. The eggs varied a good deal in ground colour, viz : from pale green, 

 through cream-buff, to pale brown, blotched with sepia; measurements i to irV by f 

 inch. Some of the eggs we took cannot be distinguished from those of Temminck's 

 Stint, Mr. Seebohm's dictum to the contrary notwithstanding. Indeed, where both 

 birds occur, Little Stint's eggs can only be identified satisfactorily by shooting 

 the bird. Both sexes incubate, but the male is usually more in evidence, according 

 to our experience; Mr. Trevor- Battye, however, found that five out of the seven 

 he obtained, with eggs or young, were females. The birds are absurdly tame- 

 indeed, painfully tame at the nest, one poor little creature came and sat down 

 repeatedly in the empty nest, wondering what could have happened to the eggs, 

 while they were being blown, and a party of three men sitting, within a yard ; 

 then it went through a pitiful little pretence of picking up scraps of food, almost 

 amongst our feet. But it was only the fourth nest we found, and we had come 

 some thousands of miles on purpose. I see that my comment in my log on the 

 whole proceeding was, "ornithologists ought to have no bowels whatever"; I can 

 truthfully say that mine were much in the way. At other times the birds went 

 through curious antics and capers, quite different from the usual paralysed crawl, 

 to try (vainly, I am afraid) to attract attention from the precious eggs. 



Little needs to be added on the habits of this bird. It is to be found on 

 our coasts between the end of August and the end of September and, in much 

 smaller numbers, in May and June usually in small parties of two, to six or 

 eight, but in Norfolk it appears to collect in much larger flocks ; this is preparatory, 

 probably, to leaving our shores altogether, as south of Norfolk and Suffolk it 

 becomes a rarer bird. At times it associates with Dunlins and Sanderlings, and 

 I have seen two Little Stints amongst a party of Godwits. It is usually very 



