184 
British Birds. 
us: it nests throughout the tundra of Northern Europe and Siberia. The nest is a 
depression in the ground, lined with a few dead leaves. The eggs only measure a little 
over an inch in length ; they are four in number, uniform in shape, of an olive-grey 
or creamy-brown colour, with distinct chocolate-brown or blackish markings, and 
underlying spots of light grey. 
The Little Stint. The American Stint. Temminck’s Stint. 
THE AMERICAN 
STINT. 
( Limonites minutilla.) 
TEMMINCK’S 
STINT. 
(. Limonites 
temmincki .) 
This is a smaller species than our Little Stint, and has an ashy- 
brown fore-neck and chest, mottled with dark spots and shaft- 
streaks. It is a North American species, and has occurred but 
twice in England, once in Cornwall and once in Devonshire. 
In this little species, which is a smaller and much greyer bird 
than the foregoing Stints, the outer tail-feathers are pure white. 
It is a migratory visitor to Great Britain, but is a rarer bird than 
the Little Stint. It breeds on the tundra of Northern Europe 
and Asia, but does not go so far south in winter, as it does not 
wander beyond North-eastern Africa and Senegambia, whereas the Little Stint 
migrates as far as South Africa. Both species visit the Indian Peninsula in winter. 
Seebohm says that Temminck’s Stint is not so exclusively a marine bird as the Little 
Stint, and the male has quite a song during the breeding-season, not unlike that 
of a Grasshopper- Warbler. The male is said to hatch out the eggs, which are four 
in number, rather smaller than those of T. niinuta, and with the markings less 
distinct. They measure a little more than an inch in length, but do not reach 
an inch-and-a-quarter. The nest is a depression in the ground, with a little dry 
grass for lining, and several are often seen in close proximity. 
In the genus Heteropygia, the general appearance of the 
birds is like that of the Dunlins, but the bill is shorter than the 
tarsus, and the latter is longer than the middle toe and claw, in 
which respect they differ from the Stints. This Sandpiper is 
a North American species, and on migration occurs thoughout 
THE PECTORAL 
SANDPIPER. 
(Heteropygia 
maculata.) 
