258 ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 



lighter along the inner edge; bill brownish -black ; feet brown- 

 ish-grey; iris hazel. Total length, 5-5 inches; culmen, o'6 ; 

 wing, 3-8; tail, r8 ; tarsus, 07 ; mid-toe and claw, 07. 



Adult Male in Breeding Plumage. Only differs from the winter 

 plumage in being more mottled above, the feathers having 

 black centres and being tinged with rufous, especially*"!! the 

 edges of the feathers, the lower throat and chest having also 

 some distinct shaft-lines ; " bill olive-black, lighter olive- 

 brownish at base, especially on the lower mandible ; feet 

 olive-yellow, the joints more dusky ; iris dark brown." Total 

 length, 5-3 inches ; culmen, 075 ; wing, 37 ; tail, r8; tarsus, 

 0-65 ; middle toe and claw, 07. 



Adult Female in Breeding Plumage. Similar to the male, and 

 apparently quite as much mottled. Total length, 5*2 inches ; 

 culmen, o'8 ; wing, 3*9; tail, 1*85; tarsus, 0*65; middle toe 

 and claw, 07. 



Young Birds. These can always be distinguished from the 

 adults, in summer or winter plumage, by the narrow sandy-buff 

 margins to the feathers of the upper surface, and by the ashy- 

 fulvous tinge on the fore-neck, which is devoid of the dusky 

 streaks seen in the adults. 



Nestling. Covered with golden-buff down, spotted with black, 

 and spangled with silvery tips to the down ; the black forms a 

 line down the centre of the back; under surface dull white, 

 tinged with buff on the fore-neck. 



Characters Temminck's Stint is easily recognised from the 

 other species of the genus Limonites by its smaller size and 

 white outer tail-feathers. 



Range in Great Britain. Like the Little Slint, the present 

 species visits us in spring and autumn as it passes to its 

 northern breeding-grounds, or to its winter home in the south. 

 It is, however, not nearly so often observed as the Little Stint, 

 and is somewhat irregular in its visits, being generally observed 

 singly. It has been doubtfully recorded from Caithness, and 

 appears seldom to visit Ireland, as both the Scotch and Irish 

 records are not altogether satisfactory. On the west coast of 

 England, too, it has not been often met with, and the principal 

 counties where the species has been observed are those of the 



