8830 Birds. 



much at the broad water of the Reservoir, but are to be found singly 

 or in twos and threes, all along the course of our brooks. The 

 stomachs of several specimens that I examined contained either a 

 mass of semi-digested beetles and aquatic insects, or vegetable matter 

 only ; and, as in the case of the ringed plover, there were always 

 several minute pebbles or particles of sand. 



7. Greenshank (T. glottis). Seven of these birds appeared on the 

 1st of August, and on the 3rd of that month three were seen and one 

 shot. The greenshank is an uncommon visitant, although this is not 

 the first time of its occurrence here. The same may be said of the 

 wood sandpiper, little stint, and other of our rarer waders. 



8. Little Stint (T. mimita). Early in May, Mr. Bond saw a pair of 

 these little birds at the Reservoir. They only allowed him one 

 chance of shooting them, but his gun then unfortunately missed fire. 

 A fine specimen of the little stint, now in my possession, was killed 

 here on the 9th instant. Another was seen at the same time, but 

 escaped. 



9. Temminck's Stint (T. Temminckii). A few small stints appeared 

 here during the first week in August, and one was shot. Unfortu- 

 nately I was not able to see it, so that 1 am unable to say for certain 

 whether it was T. Temminckii or T. minuta. But Mr. Bond, judging 

 from the time of year, is inclined to refer it to T. Temminckii. I have 

 therefore recorded the capture of a small stint under this name. 



10. Dunlin Sandpiper (T. variabilis). I have a pair of these birds, 

 in fine plumage, now in my collection, that were killed here on April 

 7th. This species is one of the earliest to arrive, and, after leaving 

 us, like the others, for six or seven weeks, returns again in August. 

 The plumage, however, is then very different. It is much duller, the 

 rich reddish brown tint of the upper parts becoming dull grayish 

 brown, and the black upon the breast entirely disappearing. 



In this list of our Grallatores I have only mentioned those species 

 that have occurred here this summer ; otherwise I might have added 

 the ruff, the blacktailed godwit, and other rarities that have pre- 

 viously been killed here. It will be observed also that I have not 

 included the lapwing, which remains with us to breed ; the heron, 

 which is to be found here at all seasons ; the landrail, which generally 

 arrives the first week of May, and leaves us as soon as the hay 

 is carried; the moorhen, which, like the heron, is to be found here all 

 the year round ; and the coot, of which species one or two examples 

 generally occur every season. If we add these five to the above list 

 of ten (which perhaps ought rather to be called passing summer 



