218 IN CAMP AT DVOINIK 



had changed. The mosquitoes had all gone. A smart 

 gale was blowing from the north, and a heavy sea was 

 breaking on the shore. It was cloudy, dark, and cold, 

 with an attempt now and then at rain. The nest was a 

 couple of miles off, very near the shore of the inland 

 sea, but on somewhat similar ground moss, cloudberry, 

 grass, and the like. The eggs were intermediate in 

 colour between those of the other two nests. On our 

 return to our quarters we found that our Samoyede 

 servant had caught a young Little stint, half-grown, a 

 very interesting bird. Like the young of the dunlin, the 

 first feathers are those of summer plumage. On com- 

 paring the young in down and half-grown birds of the 

 dunlin with those of this bird, we noted that the legs of 

 young dunlin in down were pale brown, whilst those of 

 the half-grown and mature birds were nearly black ; the 

 Little stint, on the other hand, seems to have nearly 

 black legs and feet at all ages. 



The Little stint is evidently much more nearly allied 

 to the dunlin than to Temminck's stint, and ought to be 

 called the Little dunlin. The birds are very similar in 

 colour. Their eggs can hardly be mistaken for those of 

 Temminck's stint, but are in every respect miniature 

 dunlins' eggs. The young in down of Temminck's stint 

 are quite grey compared with the reddish-brown of the 

 young of the dunlin. The young in down -of the Little 

 stint are still redder, especially on the sides and the back 

 of the neck. 



The average size of the twenty eggs we obtained of 

 the Little stint is about I T ^ x f inch, a trifle smaller than 

 the eggs of Temminck's stint usually are. The ground- 

 colour varies from pale greenish-grey to pale brown. 

 The spots and blotches are rich brown, generally large, 

 and sometimes confluent at the large end. They probably 



