218 BRITISH BIRDS. 



sand-banks, and on the coast it leaves the sandy sea-shore to feed on the 

 fields of mud left by the receding tide in the estuaries of rivers. It 

 consequently migrates to and from its breeding-grounds for the most part 

 across country, following the river-valleys, instead of crossing the ocean 

 or " hugging the coast/'' as the Little Stint appears to do. Neither in the 

 valley of the Petchora nor in that of the Yenesay did I see any thing of 

 the Little Stint on migration ; but Temminck's Stint arrived at Ust Zylma 

 on the 26th of May, and at the Koorayika on the 6th of June. 



I first made the acquaintance of Temmincf s Stint at Tromso, on the 

 west coast of Fimnark, where it was very common. These charming little 

 birds were in full song in the middle of June. It was a most interesting 

 sight to watch them flying up into the air, wheeling round and round, 

 singing almost as vigorously and nearly as melodiously as a Sky-Lark. 

 Sometimes they were to be seen perched on a rail or a post, or even on the 

 slender branch of a willow, vibrating their little wings like a Wood- Wren, 

 and trilling with all their might ; and often the song was uttered on the 

 ground as they ran along the short grass with wings elevated over the back. 

 The song of this bird is not unlike that of the Grasshopper Warbler, but 

 is louder and shriller. Its usual call-note is a spluttering but very distinct 

 pt-r-r-r. 



On the wing Temminck's Stint looks like a small Dunlin, but it does 

 not congregate in such large flocks. At its breeding-grounds it is only 

 seen in pairs ; but on migration small parties may be seen, sometimes alone, 

 but often in the company of other Sandpipers. It can fly almost as quickly 

 as a Swallow, and the flocks wheel round, now spreading out, then 

 bunching together like Starlings, but in all their gyrations moving as if 

 actuated by one impulse. When alone they are tame enough, and allow of 

 a near approach ; but when in the company of larger and wilder Sandpipers 

 they learn caution from their more wary companions. 



Its food consists of small insects and worms ; and fragments of quartz 

 and vegetable substances have been found in its stomach. 



It can scarcely be said to breed in colonies, but I have frequently found 

 several nests within a few yards of each other. They are mere depressions 

 in the ground, lined with a little dry grass, and are seldom far from water. 

 They are not difficult to find, the sitting bird (which, according to Collett, 

 is generally the male) betraying its treasures by its peculiar flight. When 

 the nest is discovered, like the Little Stint, the bird appears to assume an 

 unnatural tameness, walking about and feeding close to the observer. 

 The nest is often in longish sedge or rushes, and less frequently in short 

 grass. 



The eggs of Temminck's Stint are four in number, and vary in ground- 

 colour from pale buff to pale olive and pale greyish green; they are 

 spotted and blotched with reddish brown and dark brown, and with under- 



