33 



chest is decidedly buff, with dark brown markings on the side of the upper breast. Dr. Coues very kindly 

 sent us a specimen of the present species out of his own cabinet, in summer plumage ; but it is not in such full 

 nuptial dress as some examples collected by Dresser at Matamoras, in Mexico. Dr. Coues believes there may 

 be more than one species in America ; but we think this unlikely ; nor is there any dependance to be placed 

 on measurements in these birds, for they vary in a wonderful manner ; the western specimen described by the 

 learned doctor, and which he thinks may be distinct, seems to us to be only the ordinary species in winter 

 plumage. 



T. albescens. Professor Schlegel (Mus. Pays-Bas, Scolopaces, p. 43) and Drs. Finsch and Hartlaub (Orn. 

 Ost-Afr. p. 764) unite this species to T. minuta, though they speak of the rufous breast as occurring in 

 individuals from China. This is of course the most distinguishing characteristic of the species, causing it in 

 summer plumage to look like a miniature Pigmy Curlew ; and thus it is easily distinguishable from T. minuta 

 in that stage of plumage. In winter dress, however, it is almost undistinguishable from the last-named bird ; 

 and the only point of difference which we can perceive to be constant is the stouter tarsus, which never exceeds 

 0'7 inch in length in the present species. The long secondaries in adult birds never reach so near to the tips 

 of the primaries as in the Little Stint, though in young birds this is a character which varies much. Compared 

 with the young of T. minuta, specimens of T. albescens of equal size are darker, have much less white, and not 

 nearly so grey a nape. Examples, as we believe, of T. albescens are now before us from Japan (Whitely), 

 Amoy (Swinhoe), S.-W. Formosa (Swinhoe), and Morty Island (Bernstein). The last-named bird is marked 

 by Professor Schlegel T. minuta ; and Drs. Finsch and Hartlaub say that a specimen examined by them from 

 Australia was undistinguishable from a Damara bird in winter plumage, so that it is possible that the true 

 T. minuta extends in winter throughout the Malay archipelago into Australia, though we ourselves believe 

 that it is T. albescens and not T. minuta which makes the last-named country its home in winter. No one, 

 however, can settle these difficult points without a critical examination of a very large series of specimens from 

 all localities. 



T. salina. This bird is a Stint with the form and coloration of T. minuta, but with the wings of T. 

 temmincki ; for like the last-named bird it has brown shafts to all but the outermost primary. From all the 

 other Stints, however, it may be distinguished by its abnormally long toes, the excess in length of which is set 

 forth in the comparative table of measurements. Its nearest ally is certainly T. minuta, to which it assimilates 

 in summer and winter dress. We have examined specimens from Lake Baikal (mus. Walden), Amoorland (Dr. 

 Maack, mus. R. Swinhoe), Amoy (Swinhoe), S.-W. Formosa (Swinhoe), India (mus. R. Swinhoe). 



T. temmincki. A full description of this species is given in the adjoining article. It may always be told 

 from every one of the other Stints by the white outer tail-feather, and in winter plumage by its uniform greyish 

 hrown back 



The comparative measurements of the five species are as follows : — 







Total length. 



Culmen. 



Wing. 



Tail. 



Tarsus. 



Middle toe 







inches. 



inch. 



inches. 



inch. 



inch. 



inch. 



1. 





. . . 5-5-6-3 



0-7 -0-8 



3-6-4-0 



1-65-1-7 



0-7-0-8 



0-75 



2. 





. . . 4-7-5-5 



0-7 -0-8 



3-3-355 



1-5 -1-6 



0-7 



0-75 



3. 





. . . 5-0-6-2 



0-65-0-75 



3-7-4-2 



1-85-1-9 



0-7 



0-7 



4. 





. . . 4-8-5-5 



0-65-0-8 



3-2-3-7 



1-5 -1-75 



0-8-0-85 



0-9 



5. 





. . . 4-5-5-5 



0-65-0-75 



3-5-3-9 



1-9 -2-1 



0-7 



0-75 



The present species is met with in most parts of Europe only during migration, and it is at 

 present only known to breed in Siberia, where its eggs have been discovered by Dr. von Midden- 

 dorff. In winter it certainly reaches South Africa, and is at this season of the year also met with 



