898 
LIMICOLA PLATYRHYNCHA. 
Severtzoff did not observe it on passage in Turkestan, nor do Messrs. Stoliczka, Scully, and Henderson 
record it from Kashgar. Mr. Seebohm did not meet with it on the Yenesay ; even in Western Siberia it was 
not the lot of Dr. Finscli, in his extensive travels, to see it ; so that we may conclude that, as far as Indian 
birds are concerned, those in the north-west pass by way of Persia, Arabia, and Palestine into Europe, and 
those in the eastern parts (Burmah, &c.) migrate to North-east Siberia, where Middendorff found it on the 
Sea of Okhotsk. Neither Sehrenck nor Prjevalsky met with it, and it is not recorded from Japan. In China 
Swinlioe says that it is found in winter, as also in Formosa ; and Pere David remarks of it that, though 
frequent in Formosa, it is only found in small numbers on the coast of China; he observed some examples in 
the Shanghai market in April and May. It has not been met with hitherto in the Philippine Archipelago ; 
but it ranges south probably along the Siam coast into the Malay Islands, for Reinwardt procured it in Java, 
and Salvadori records it, though doubtfully, from Borneo. 
In Europe it is confined to the north in the breeding-season, and is found on passage in the south-east 
and as far west as Belgium, where it has been obtained on the Meuse. In Germany it occurs rarely on passage, 
and is more often seen in spring than autumn. On the northern coasts of France it is met with, says 
Air. Dresser, at irregular intervals, and is found on the south coast as well. Air. Goebel and Professor von 
Nordmann record it from the neighbourhood of Russia. It occurs but rarely in Sicily. Messrs. Elwes and 
Buckley record specimens as having been obtained on the Bosphorus by a Air. Robson. 
As regards its breeding-habitat : it was found nesting in Norway and Lapland, north of 58°, by Messrs. 
Collett and Wolley ; and it occurs in the Archangel district also in summer. Though it breeds in the north of 
Sweden and Norway, it is met with only on passage in the autumn in the south of Scandinavia, as also in 
Denmark and in the islands near Riigen. It is rare in Germany, being chiefly seen during the spring migration. 
As it is not found in Spain, it would not, as a matter of course, occur in Alorocco ; and I find no reference of its 
having been obtained in Algeria. In Egypt Capt. Shelley does not seem to have met with it; but Von Heuglin 
shot it once near Suez in August, and believes that he saw small flocks in September near Ras-Belul, on the 
African coast of the Red Sea ; he states that Iledenborg procured it in Egypt ; but from these few- occur- 
rences it is evident that it is not a regular visitor to this region. That it passes rarely down the east coast of 
Africa is proved by its having been procured in Madagascar. 
Habits. — This fine Stint frequents the mud banks on the borders of tidal rivers, and the sands and ooze 
on shores and lagoons respectively, and appears to be almost more restricted to the vicinity of the sea-coast 
than any other of the more common members of its genus. It is found in small parties of less than half a 
dozen iu number or singly, and associates with the Little Stint and other small congeners. I have never had 
an opportunity of seeing it alive ; but Von Heuglin informs us that it resembles the Dunlin in its carriage, 
actions, and flight, and that when on the wing it goes in tolerably close company. Mr. Dresser, who observed 
it off the coast of Uleaborg, in Finland, writes that it resembles the Jack Snipe in its flight : of its note h e 
cannot speak, as he did not hear it ; but 1 should say it probably resembles that of other Stints. In the 
breeding-season, according to Mr. Wolley, it makes a faint twittering noise. 
Nidification. — In Europe this bird has been found breeding in Lapland, and in Norway on the Dovrefjeld. 
The situations chosen are, writes Mr. Wolley, “ open soft places on the marsh where there is little else than 
bog-moss with a light growth of a kind of sedge ; and on a low tuft just rising above the water its nest may 
be found, often without much difficulty Alany empty nests may be found for one that is occupied ; and 
I suppose them to be nests of former years ; for the moss in which they are usually worked long retains any 
mark made in it, being hard-frozen for more than half the year. They are neatly rounded hollows, and have 
a few bits of dry grass at the bottom. The bird sometimes flies and sometimes runs off her eggs ; and if she 
has sat for a day or two she will come back even whilst men are standing all around.” 
Air. Alitchell, who found it nesting on the Dovrefjeld, writes to Mr. Alston some interesting notes, which 
I extract from Mr. Dresser’s ‘ Birds of Europe ’ : — “ It is rather curious to notice how the lining of the nest 
is suited to the colour of the eggs. The darkest ones are laid on the brown withered leaves of the mountain- 
willow, while one nest, the eggs of which were as light as Dunlins’, was lined entirely with grass ; several others 
were mixed with it. . . . The nests are more elaborate than most of the Sandpipers’, scratched deeper down, 
