272 CHAKADI11ID.T!. 



Bill black ; irides deep brown ; legs and feet black (Jerdoii). 



Length 6'5 ; tail 1'5 ; wing 4 ; tarsus '8 ; bill from gape 1. 



Distribution. A very rare bird, resorting to North-east Siberia in 

 summer and found in winter on the coasts of China, Bengal, and 

 Burma. The only recorded localities in the Bay of Bengal are 

 Saugor Island at the mouth of the Hoogly (a specimen has also 

 once been obtained in the Calcutta bazaar), Chittagong, Akyab, 

 mouth of Rangoon river, and Amherst. 



Habits, $c. Scarcely anything is known except that the few 

 specimens obtained have been shot on mud and sand flats, in 

 company with Tringas and other small waders. 



Genus TEJNGA, Linn., 1766. 



Bill slender, flexible, varying in length, straight or slightly 

 curved downwards, both mandibles grooved ; nostril small, near 

 .the base of the mandible. Wing long, pointed, 1st quill longest, 

 tertiaries nearly as long as primaries; tail nearly square, the 

 median rectrices pointed and projecting slightly in some species. 

 Tarsus rather short, scutulated ; hind toe present ; anterior toes 

 divided to the base, not webbed. 



This genus comprises the Stints, which are distinguished from 

 the Sandpipers (Totanus} by having a softer, more flexible bill, 

 and by the almost entire absence of any web between the anterior 

 toes. The species, about 20 in number, are often distributed 

 amongst a number of genera on account of slight differences in 

 the length or form of the bill ; but it is evident that all are closely 

 allied, more so than the species here referred to Totanus. No less 

 than 9 forms of Stint have been recorded from India, Ceylon, and 

 Burma ; all are migratory birds, breeding in Northern Asia, and 

 the majority are found in India in flocks, feeding on worms, small 

 Crustacea, and insects and their Iarva3, which are obtained either 

 from sand or mud banks on the coast or in estuaries, or from 

 marshy ground inland. 



Key to the Species. 



a. Bill straight. 



a'. Bill from gape not exceeding O8, wing 



under 4. 



a*. All shafts of primaries white in part. 

 3 . Wing under 4 ; tarsus 0*8, leaden 



grey T. minuta, p. 273. 



Z 3 . Wing not under 4 ; tarsus 0'75, 



black T. rnjicollis, p. 274. 



b 2 . Shaft of 1st primary white; of 



others brown. 

 c 3 . All tail-feathers brown; mid-toe 



and claw 0'9 T. subminuta, p. 275. 



d 3 . Outer tail-feathers white ; mid-toe 



and claw 0'75 T. temmincki, p. 275. 



