186 MALAYAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



usual, the former were exceedingly wary, and, without giving us the 

 ghost of a chance, made off to a distant sandbank, loudly uttering 

 their shrill cries, as if to deride the unsuccessful sportsman and 

 warn all other birds of his approach." 



Numenius ph^eopus (Linn.) . The Whimbrel. 



"Flocks of Whimbrel frequent the coasts during the north-east 

 monsoon. In my notes I find : — 



" Singapore, 26th November, 1879. The other day, while shoot- 

 ing Pigeons on Pulau Betam, we put up a large flock of Whimbrel 

 from the belt of mangroves bordering the shore, but did not get a 



chance at them ; but next day Mr. D. bagged eight in two 



shots." 



TiiiNGA mintjta (Leisl.). The Little Stint. 



I shot one of these Stints on Pulau Batam, near Singapore, on 

 25th November, 1879 ; it was a male in winter plumage, length about 

 6 \ inches ; head and the upper parts whitish brown, the feathers 

 dark-shafted ; the two central tail-feathers dark brown, the others 

 dusky, all narrowly edged with white ; the underparts white, dusky 

 on the breast ; bill at front f inch, tarsus f . 



Totanus glareola (Linn.). The Spotted Sandpiper. 



This Sandpiper is by no means a rare bird ; I shot several in Perak 

 and in Singapore. A female, killed at Kota Lama, Perak, on 19th 

 April, 1877, measured 9 inches, tarsus 1J, beak at front \\ ; legs 

 dull green ; irides dark brown ; head, upper parts, and the wings 

 dull brown, spotted with grey; a dusky streak passes from the base 

 of the upper mandible to the eye ; supercilium and underparts white, 

 dusky on the breast and much streaked with brown ; the upper tail- 

 coverts pure white ; tail barred with dark brown. A specimen shot 

 in Singapore during November was less distinctly spotted than the 

 above. 



In my notes I find : — 



" Singapore, 18th November, 1879. This afternoon, while Snipe- 

 shooting in the Mount Echo valley, close behind our barracks, I 

 came on a large flock of Spotted Sandpipers (T. glareola) feeding in 

 the swampy fields, which are awful walking, letting one through at 

 every step over one's knees into soft filth. The Sandpipers were 

 rather wild, rising with shrill cries as soon as I got within forty or 



