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hill and the eye greyish brown, faintly tinged with rufous ; nape and back of the neck greyish brown ; 

 back entirely dark brown, with rufous edgings to the feathers; scapulars tinged with buff and con- 

 spicuously margined with white; least wing-coverts dark brown, very minutely edged with rufous, 

 median and greater coverts edged with buff, the latter tipped with white, forming a distinct alar bar ; 

 quills dark brown, with white shafts, the smaller primaries white along the base of the outer web ; 

 secondaries greyish brown, edged with whitish, the innermost long plumes dark brown, margined with 

 rufous ; tail-feathers ashy brown, edged with white, except the two centre feathers, which are dark brown, 

 with rufous margins; under surface of the body pure white, the chest tinged with buff; under wing- 

 coverts white, the greater ones somewhat tinged with ashy. 



Obs. The winter plumage of the Little Stint is seldom or never observed in the north of Europe, the birds 

 which are shot in the autumn being mostly young ones, as may be distinguished by the rufous edgings 

 to the feathers and by the grey nape. In the Sahara, and also in Palestine, Canon Tristram has met 

 with it in full winter dress ; and a specimen in his collection from the former locality is exceedingly 

 pretty, reminding one of a miniature Purple Sandpiper by reason of the glossy black mottling of the 

 upper surface ; it is of very small size, and is apparently a bird of the year. From the Cape Colony 

 and South Africa we get the present species in winter plumage, when it is found to be quite grey ; but 

 before the bird leaves its winter haunts it has begun to assume its summer livery ; for a specimen in 

 Canon Tristram's collection, shot by Mr. Ayres in Natal, is becoming very rufous, and is in sufficiently 

 interesting dress to merit a separate description, which is given below. Another example, in our own 

 cabinet, from the river Gambia, is also in particoloured plumage, the general colour being grey, but 

 the scapulars, longest secondaries, and a few of the dorsal plumes edged with rufous. 



Male in changing spring plumage. General colour greyish brown, above mottled with rufous, the feathers 

 in the centre of the back entirely black with no rufous margins, those of the lower back and rump 

 edged with rufous ; wings coloured as in the winter plumage, with the exception of a slight tinge of 

 rufous here and there on the greater and median coverts ; the long secondaries margined with rufous ; 

 forehead and cheeks whitish, the latter minutely specked with brownish, and very slightly tinged with 

 rufous ; under surface of the body white, the upper part of the breast greyish, tinged with rufous, and 

 very distinctly streaked with tiny spots of brown. 



Comparison with Temmnick's Stint. The Little Stint may be distinguished at all ages by the following 

 characters : — 1, by its slightly larger size ; 2, by the greater amount of white on the primaries ; 

 3, by its longer tarsus ; 4, by its outer tail-feathers being pale ashy brown, and not pure white. At 

 the various seasons of the year the characters which they possess in common, and the points in which 

 they differ may be thus enumerated. 



(a) Little Stint {Summer). Upper surface bright rufous, slightly mottled with black, with white edgings to 

 a great many of the dorsal plumes ; all the shafts of the primaries for the most part white ; all the tail, 

 except the two centre feathers, pale ashy brown ; chest ashy brown, but strongly tinged with rufous, 

 and mottled with brown ; legs black, or greenish black ; length of tarsus 0-75-0-86. 



(a) Temminck's Stint {Summer) . Upper plumage greyish brown with dull rufous edgings to the feathers, and 



no white margins ; outer primary with a white shaft, the rest with brown shafts ; outer tail-feathers pure 

 white, the rest white marked more or less with ashy brown as they approach the middle of the tail ; 

 chest ashy grey, very slightly tinged with rufous, and minutely speckled with dark brown ; legs light 

 brown; length of tarsus O-65-0'7. 



(b) Little Stint {Winter). Besides the differences of size and the constant characters mentioned above, the 



present bird may always be distinguished from Temminck's Stint by the following points : — back 



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