AMERICAN STINT. 397 



are of a rich cream-yellow tint, blotched and dotted with very 

 dark umber, especially at the larger end : specimens in Mr. 

 Dresser's collection measure 1 by * 8 in. 



On its migrations this Stint is found throughout the 

 United States, numbers wintering in the south, whilst 

 others continue their course to the Bermudas, the West 

 Indies, Mexico, Central America, Colombia, and Brazil. 

 The habits of this species appear to be similar to those of 

 its congeners. 



The adult in breeding plumage is blackish above, a few 

 of the feathers on the head and back slightly edged with 

 rufous ; hinder part of the neck ashy varied with rufous ; 

 wing-coverts ash-grey externally margined with buff, the 

 greater coverts edged with white, forming an indistinct alar 

 bar ; quills ash-brown, blacker towards their tips, the shafts 

 whitish-brown, with the exception of the outermost, which is 

 white, inclining to brownish only towards the tip ; lower part 

 of the back and rump deep black ; tail pale ashy-grey, the 

 two middle tail-feathers elongated, blackish like the rump ; 

 lores, eyebrows, and sides of the face whitish ; throat white ; 

 chest ashy, mottled with marks of dark brown in the centre 

 of some of the feathers ; rest of the under surface of the 

 body white ; under wing-coverts whitish, some of the lower 

 ones mottled with brown ; bill blackish-brown ; feet light 

 yellowish-brown ; iris dark brown. Externally there is no 

 material difference between the sexes. Total length about 

 five inches, wing from carpal joint to tip three and two-fifths 

 of an inch ; tail one inch and a half. 



In autumn plumage some of the dorsal feathers and the 

 scapulars are edged with whitish. The winter plumage is 

 ashy-grey above, some of the dorsal feathers dark purplish- 

 brown in the centre and margined with whitish ; lower part 

 of back and rump blackish ; wing-coverts like the back, the 

 greater coverts clearer brown, and indistinctly tipped with 

 white ; rest of the plumage as in summer. 



