586 LITTLE STINT. 
74°N.; but in the summer of 1872 Messrs. Harvie-Brown and Alston 
obtained a bird in nuptial dress at the mouth of the Dwina, while 
Prof. Collett found the species common on the Porsanger-fjord in 
Norway, proving that it bred further to the westward than had 
previously been supposed ; and in July 1875 Messrs. Harvie-Brown 
and Seebohm were the first to take the eggs in Europe, near 
the mouth of the Petchora. Nesting-places have since been dis- 
covered by Henke near Archangel, Mr. E. Rae in the Kola Penin- 
sula, Prof. Collett in North Norway, Mr. Trevor-Battye on Kolguev, 
the Pearson Expeditions on the last-named and other islands 
(especially Waigats) up to Belootchia Bay in Novaya Zemlya, Dr. 
O. Finsch near the Kara Gulf, and Mr. Popham on the Yenesei. 
Birds found on the Lena delta and further east in Siberia have 
redder breasts in breeding-plumage, though undistinguishable in 
winter, and have been named TZ. ruficollis. 
The nest is a mere hollow in the moor, scantily lined with dead 
leaves &c. ; the eggs, 4 in number, are, as a general rule, miniatures 
of those of the Dunlin: measurements 1 by ‘75 in. Fourteen 
beautiful illustrations are in the ‘Eggs of the Limicolz,’ by the 
late F, Poynting. Incubation begins in the second half of June, 
and the male takes a full share. The sitting-bird appears to be very 
quiet and tame when at the nest, from which, however, it sometimes 
endeavours to divert attention by feigning lameness. The note is 
described as a sharp zezck, but in autumn, when the birds are in 
flocks, their call resembles the confused chirping of grasshoppers. 
Aquatic insects, small crustaceans, worms, molluscs, and occasion- 
ally the seeds of plants, constitute the food. 
The adult in summer-plumage (represented in the foreground) 
has the upper parts variegated with rufous and black like a Dunlin ; 
chin white ; throat and upper breast tinged with rufous and speckled 
with dark brown; under parts white; bill, legs and feet black. 
Length 6 in. (bill 7), wing 3°55 in. The female is slightly larger 
than the male. After the autumn moult there is no red on the 
throat, and the upper parts are of an ashy-brown, though always with 
more rufous than is the case in Temminck’s Stint. The young 
have the feathers of the back edged with buffish-white ; the legs 
and feet are blackish even from the nestling stage. As pointed out 
by Mr. Harting, the Little Stint resembles a miniature Dunlin 
(except for the black breast), while Temminck’s Stint is more like a 
small edition of the Common Sandpiper; these remarks being 
especially true of winter-plumage. 
