54 



ELEMENTS OF OENITHOLOGT. 



The Little Stint {Tringa minuta) is a charming little Bird, 

 ■whose graceful actiye movements may be observed in autumn 

 on our Eastern coasts. It flies rapidly, but most characteristic 

 is the way it runs along the wet sand close to the waves 

 as they retreat, and its rapid movements to escape the waves 

 as they return. It is one of a genus of about fifteen species, 

 and amongst them are the English Birds known as the Knot, 

 the Sanderling *, and the Dunlin, as well as different kinds 

 of those Birds which are commonly called " Sandpipers." 



Pig. 54. 



The Woodcock {Soolopax rusticola). 



Another group of the Birds commonly called " Sandpipers " 

 (amongst them the Common Sandpiper or " Summer Snipe "), 

 with' " Eedshanks," " Willets," and " Tatlers," may be repre- 

 sented by our Common Eedshank {Totanus calidris), so widely 

 spread and generally well known in England. There are 

 seventeen species belonging to this genus, and they are all to 

 be found within the Northern Hemisphere. 



* Some consider tliis to belong to a distinct genus, and name it Calidris 

 arenaria. 



