i46 tfiE ZOOLOGIST. 



I noticed them in flocks of from half-a-dozen or so, up to twenty 

 and even fifty. In singles and twos and threes also they haunted 

 the creeks at low tide, either by themselves or with one or two 

 Dunlins and Ringed Plovers. Mixed flocks also of Pigmies and 

 Dunlins were also met with. The note of the Pigmy uttered on 

 the wing has been said to have a resemblance to that of the 

 Dunlin. It is quite different, and by the note you can tell the 

 species composing the little bunches of Stints or Pigmies which 

 come bowling along over the muds long before they are near 

 enough for the large size, lighter colour, and white rumps of the 

 Pigmies to be distinguished. The Dunlin's call is " treee, 

 treee," a monosyllable. The Pigmy's is " tirr-eee, tir-ee," a 

 dissyllable ; but the space between the syllables is short, and 

 perhaps rather the most emphasis is laid on the second, which is 

 prolonged a little. During the days when the grassy marshes 

 inside the sand and "marram" bank, which divides them from 

 the mud-flats, are kept wetted by high tides, Pigmies love to feed 

 on this ground, and continue to haunt it until a day or two of low 

 tides and hot sun have dried them. These marshes are covered 

 with very short turf (on which sheep come when it is dry), inter- 

 spersed with plants of thrift, sea-lavender, spurrey, &c. Here 

 and there are shallow pools, and in the wetter spots the glasswort 

 grows. Further in, the little creeks, with a border of atriplex, 

 begin to run down to the main one. While lying on the bank 

 among the " marram," I watched the Pigmies on this ground 

 through the glasses. They often assumed a very upright position 

 as they posed beside a pool. Much less restless than Dunlin or 

 Ringed Plover, they do not run about so much, and when a 

 Pigmy and one or two Stints and Dotterel have lit together in 

 a creek, or elsewhere, the latter begin to run quickly as they 

 feed, but the former is much quieter and more sedate. This fact 

 has been previously recorded, but it is so noticeable a trait that 

 it is worth repeating when treating of the habits of a bird about 

 which too much has not been written. On one day at least (3rd) 

 Curlew Sandpipers were far more abundant than Dunlins in the 

 marsh. All that I met with were young birds of the year in the 

 speckled dress, but I saw in the birdstuffers' shops three fine 

 specimens in red dress, with only a few light feathers beginning 

 to show, shot early in August. Apropos of this, I was rather 



