802 Messrs. H. Seebohm and J. A. Harvie Brown on 
a few birds, but saw no place there which appeared to be likely 
ground for nests of the Little Stint. It was by that time late in 
the evening of the 22nd July; but we had nothing to fear from 
light failing us in these latitudes; so we continued our search. 
Meanwhile Piottuch, and our Samoyede servant Simeon, 
had also come out, and having crossed over the tundra to 
near the neck of the peninsula, had sat down on the edge 
just where the sloping tundra joins the meadow. Seebohm 
had gone on along the S.W. shore of the inland sea; and 
Harvie Brown was a considerable way behind, having diverged 
in order to obtain a view of the coast-line. As the latter 
approached, Piottuch shouted and waved his hand. We quote 
the following from Harvie Brown’s journal :■— 
“As I came nearer I saw a small bird flying in circles 
round him (Piottuch) and Simeon, and alighting now and 
again close to them. Seeing this I ran forward, and Piottuch 
held out two young Little Stints, not more than a day, or at 
most two days out of the shell. I sat down; and ere many 
seconds elapsed the old bird alighted within a yard or two of 
our feet, uttering a very small, anxious, whistling note. 
My gun lay on the ground beside me, within reach of my 
hand; and I put down one of the young about six inches be¬ 
yond it. Almost immediately the old bird advanced close up 
to it, and, uttering its low notes, endeavoured to lead it away. 
Piottuch then held out the the other young one in his left 
hand, and it uttered a scarcely audible cheep. The old bird 
advanced fearlessly to within twelve inches of his hand; and 
he nearly caught it. I then shouted to Seebohm to come, 
being at the same time prepared to shoot the bird if it flew 
away to any distance; but no, it only flew about ten or fif¬ 
teen yards, and then began to sham lameness, tumbling about 
amongst the little hummocks and hollows, and never going 
further from us than about thirty paces. Seebohm now came 
up, and took his seat beside us. The old bird became a little 
shyer, but still flew round us in circles, alighting, as before, 
from time to time. We watched it for some little time; and 
then, at Seebohm’s suggestion, I shot the bird, and we pro¬ 
ceeded to search for more young or a nest, offering Simeon 
