Birds. 4297 



stints, he has always observed that both these birds uttered, on being 

 flushed, a hurried repetition of a feeble note, which may be expressed 

 by the word " weet." 



The dimensions, &c., hereafter referred to, I have copied from Mr. 

 Vingoe's written particulars, and which I have compared with the 

 example with a view of testing their accuracy. 



Perhaps the most remarkable external differences are the superior 

 dimensions of the feet, and the colour of the outer tail-feathers, which 

 in this bird are light brownish gray ; the same in Tringa Temminckii 

 being pure white : the general appearance of the bird is smaller than 

 the other two, and the bill is rather longer and more deflected, with 

 the point less obtuse and rounded. Although the dimensions of the 

 tarsus perfectly agree with those of T. Temminckii, the colour and 

 shape of the tail are precisely similar to those of T. minuta. 



Mr. Vingoe's description of Tringa pusilla (minutilla). 



" From the carpus to the end of the wing three inches and seven- 

 sixteenths long, which is three-eighths of an inch shorter than that 

 of the little stint, or of Temminck's stint. Tarsus the same length as 

 that of Temminck's stint (eleven-sixteenths). The middle toe, claw 

 included, full three-quarters of an inch long, which is nearly one- 

 eighth of an inch longer than that of the little stint or of Temminck's 

 stint. Primaries only an eighth of an inch longer than the tertials, 

 whilst in T. minuta the longest primary is five-eighths of an inch 

 longer than the tertials ; and in Temminck's stint the longest primary 

 feather is half an inch longer than the tertials. Bill three-quarters of 

 an inch long, a little curved and more pointed than in either the little 

 stint or Temminck's stint. Plumage, tail included, similar to that of 

 Tringa minuta, but of a darker shade throughout. Legs grayish 

 yellow." 



The first British example of this Tringa, shot in Marazion Marsh, 

 near Penzance, October 10th, 1853, by Mr. W. H. Vingoe. 



Edward Hearle Rodd. 



Penzance, March 27th, 1854. 



[The following addition from Wilson's 'American Ornithology' 

 will be interesting to our readers. — E. Newman]. 



" Little Sandpiper, Tringa pusilla, Wilson." 



" This is the least of its tribe in this part of the world, and in its 

 mode of flight has much more resemblance to the snipe than to the 



