PLOVERS AND SANDPIPERS. 121 



most numerous on its autumn passage south. It 

 is chiefly seen on the eastern coast-line, but is a 

 visitor to the Solway district. The Little Stint 

 breeds in the Arctic regions of Europe and West 

 Siberia, and is a late migrant in spring, seldom 

 seen in any numbers on our coasts before May. 

 It frequents, whilst with us, mud-flats, salt-marshes, 

 and long reaches of sand, and often .joins the 

 Dunlins in quest of food. Its stay with us is brief, 

 especially in spring, and even in autumn most have 

 gone away before October. It may be distinguished 

 by its small size (wing under 4 inches in length), 

 tapering bill, and black legs and feet. The second 

 species, Temminck's Stint (Tringa temmincki\ 

 is a larger bird than the foregoing, and readily 

 distinguished from all other Tringae by its white 

 outer tail feathers. It is much rarer in its appear- 

 ance, too, and, as usual, most frequent on the 

 low-lying eastern coast-line ; even this district is 

 beyond the more general limits of its migrations. 

 It is also not so maritime in its haunts, and seems 

 to migrate along more inland routes. 



