204 BRITISH BIRDS. 



TRINGA MINUTA. 



LITTLE STINT. 



(PLATE 31.) 



Tringa cinclus minor, Eriss. Orn. v. p. 215 (1760). 



Tringa pusilla, Linn, apud Lath. Gen. Syn. Suppl. i. p. 292 (1787). 



Tringa minuta, Leisler, Nachtr. Bechst. Naturg. Deutschl. i. p. 74 (1812) ; et auc- 



torum plurimorum Temminck, Naumann, ScMegel, Newton, Dresser, 



Saunders, &c. 



Pelidna minuta (Linn.), Boie, Isis, 1826, p. 979. 

 Actodromas minuta (Linn.), Kaup, Natiirl. Syst. p. 55 (1829). 

 Scheeniclus minuta (Linn.), Gray, List Birds Brit. Mus. iii. p. 106 (1844). 



Although the Little Stint was first described by Leisler in his Supple- 

 ment to Bechstein's ' Natural History of Germany/ it was well known to 

 Pennant, Latham, and other early British ornithologists under the name 

 of the Little Sandpiper, and it was supposed to be identical with the Tringa 

 pusilla of Linnseus, a name which was founded upon " La petite Alouette- 

 de-mer de S. Domingue" of Brisson. The latter proving to be the 

 Semipalmated Sandpiper, a perfectly distinct species, it was necessary to 

 give a new name to the European bird. 



This interesting and charming little Sandpiper is only known as a visitor 

 on migration to the British Islands. The east coast of Great Britain, as far 

 north as the Shetlands, is its principal haunt, whence as the season 

 advances it migrates along the south coast, many reaching as far as 

 Cornwall. It does not yet appear to have been observed on the west 

 coast of Scotland, and is very local, and only occurs in small numbers, on 

 the west coast of England, chiefly in the north. It visits Ireland in small 

 numbers on migration, and is chiefly observed on the east coast. It is 

 known to pass the Channel Islands on migration in autumn. 



The Little Stint breeds in great numbers, though very locally, on the 

 Siberian tundras, above the limit of forest-growth, from the North Cape to 

 the Taimur peninsula. It has also been seen in summer on Waigatz Island 

 and on Nova Zembla. It passes along the European coasts, the valleys 

 of the Kama and the Volga, and through West Siberia and Turkestan on 

 migration, to winter in suitable localities throughout Africa, including the 

 valley of the Nile, and in Persia, India, Ceylon, and Burma. 



The Little Stint has three close allies with which it is very often con- 

 founded, and with two of which it is probably conspecific. 



The most distinct of these is Tringa subminuta, which may always be 



