SCOLOPACIDJE. 425 



were afterwards seen, but could not be procured." 

 This specimen is now considered to be Temminck's 

 Stint and not the more common Little Stint,* or 

 "Little Sandpiper" of Montagu, which bird, al- 

 though generally more common, has not I believe 

 been found in Somersetshire, nor can I find any 

 other notice of the occurrence of the present species 

 in the county : we must therefore consider it here 

 as only a very accidental visitor, although perhaps 

 it may occasionally have occurred and escaped 

 notice. In England generally its visits are only 

 accidental, mostly happening in the spring and 

 autumn. In its habits it seems somewhat to 

 resemble the Common Sandpiper or Summer 

 Snipe, frequenting the banks of fresh-water streams 

 and pools rather than the sea-shore. 



Yarrell, quoting Mr. Wolley, says these birds 

 breed north of the Bothnian Gulf. The nest is said 

 to be very simple a few short bits of hay in a little 

 saucer-shaped hollow placed amongst thin grass or 

 sedge, generally not far from the water's edge, but 

 sometimes in the middle of a meadow. Its food 

 appears to be gnats and other insects, which it picks 

 off the grass, and also worms. 



This is the smallest of the British Sandpipers, 

 being smaller even than the Little Stint. Yarrell 



* Montagu's Dictionary, by Newman " Sandpiper, 

 Little," " Sandpiper, Temminck's." 



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