5068 THE ZooLtocist—SrerreMBeER, 1876. 
near relation of the peep—the little stint—under circumstances 
very similar to those mentioned above. Particulars of the nesting 
of the rarer Tring are very welcome to British ornithologists, not 
all of whom possess the energy or the opportunity to visit 
Northern Russia in search of those secluded spots in which 
hitherto the secret of the eggs and nests of many species has been 
kept inviolate. Like the peep, the little stint appears to be a 
fearless parent. We quote from Mr. Harvie Brown’s. account of 
his first little stint’s nest :— 
* As I came nearer I saw a small bird flying in circles round him 
(Piottuch) and Simeon, and alighting now and again close to them. Seeing 
this I ran forward, and Piottuch held out two young little stints,* not more 
than a day, or at most two days, out of the shell. I sat down; and ere many 
seconds elapsed the old bird alighted within a yard or two of our feet, 
uttering a very small, anxious, whistling note. My gun lay on the ground 
beside me, within reach of my hand; and I put down one of the young 
about six inches beyond it. Almost immediately the old bird advanced 
close up to it, and, uttering its low notes, endeavoured to lead it away. 
Piottuch then held out the other young one in his left hand, and it uttered 
a scarcely audible cheep. The old bird advanced fearlessly to within twelve 
inches of his hand; and he nearly caught it. I then shouted to Seebohm 
to come, being at the same time prepared to shoot the bird if it flew away 
to any distance; but no, it only flew about ten or fifteen yards, and then 
began to sham lameness, tumbling about among the little hummocks and 
hollows, and never going further from us than about thirty paces.” 
The eggs of the little stint are described as like dunlin’s eggs in 
miniature. Drawings of four of those brought to England by 
Mr. Harvie Brown are given in the ‘ Ibis.’ 
To return to Dr. Coues. Among the extraordinary birds 
furnished by the American list may be mentioned the wood ibis, 
called in Colorado the “ water turkey.” This ibis is nearly as 
large as a crane, is white, with black tips to the wings, and 
a black tail. “The head is peculiar, being entirely bald in the 
adult bird, and having an enormously thick, heavy bill, tapering 
and a little decurved at the end.” ‘The wood ibis avoids the 
intense mid-day heats by mounting high into the heavens, circling 
round and round in the cooler currents of air. 
* There is a yery beautiful drawing, from the pencil of Mr. Keulemans, of the 
little stint in its nestling plumage, taken from Mr. Harvie Brown's specimens, in 
Mr. Dresser’s magnificent work on the ‘ Birds of Europe.’ 
