LEIMONITES TEMMINCKI I .
Temminck’s Stint.
Tringa Temminckii, Leisl. Nacht, zu Bechst. Naturg. Deutschi., tom. i. p. 95.
pusilla, Lath. Ind. Om., tom. ii. p. 737.
Pelidna Temminckii, Boie, Isis, 1826, p. 979.
Leimonites Temminckii, Kaup, Natürl. Syst., p. 37.
Actodromus Temmincki, Bonap. Tabl. des Echass. Corapt. Rend, de l’Acad. des Sei. tom. xliii. sp. 219.
My especial thanks are due to Mr. Alfred Newton, Mr. Wolley, and Mr. H. E. Dresser for the information
they have afforded me respecting the bird here represented. Like the Little Stint {Actodromas minuta), it
visits the British Islands either singly or in small companies at various periods of the year. To say that
it is a regular migrant would be incorrect; for whole seasons may pass without its being seen, while at
others it appears in considerable numbers.
It will be noticed that Temminck’s and the Little Stints have been figured under two different generic
appellations; and their separation is, I think, a very proper one, inasmuch as they not only differ in form
hut. in the situations they each affect,—the former being mostly found on the banks of inland rivers, the
sides o f large reservoirs, and p o nds; while the latter is a more maritime bird, like the Sanderling and
Purple Sandpiper. The Leimonites Temminckii is somewhat smaller than the Actodromas minuta, and
more elegant in all its proportions; the predominant colour of its upper surface is olive, while that of its
ally is chestnut-red.
The summer home o f the present bird is far better known than that of the Little Stint, the late
Mr. Wolley, Mr. Newton, and Mr. Dresser having each found its nest in Norway and Lapland; the high
fell-meadows of whieh countries are probably the northern limit o f its breeding-localities. With the
exception of America, Temminck’s Stint may be said to inhabit in summer all the countries bordering the
Arctic circle, whence it proceeds, as autumn aud winter approach, to the warmer parts o f Europe, Africa,
Asia Minor, India, and China. In all those countries, as in our own, it is never very plentiful, but occurs
sufficiently often to be termed common in each o f them.
Numerous instances of the occurrence o f this bird in England are on record, specimens having been
obtained in Cornwall (where M r. R odd says it is occasionally found in the salt marshes near the sea) and here
and there along the eastern coast as far north as Yorkshire; occasionally it is met with as near to London
as Kingsbury Reservoir, where F. Bond, Esq., has obtained old birds in spring and both old and young in
autumn. In Scotland, according to Macgillivray, it has not occurred; but it must be found there. And
Thompson says that it has only once been obtained in Ireland, where a single example was seen and shot at
a freshwater pool close to the town of Tralee, during a severe frost, in January 1848; but, as in Scotland,
it must visit the country more often than is supposed. During its spring and vernal migrations, it is seen in
Germany, Holland, France, and Switzerland ; and we learn from M. Bailly that it “ visits Savoy every year,
about the end o f September or the first half o f October, sometimes not until November or December,
and never in very great numbers. Its early or late appearance in the spring seems to depend upon
the nature of the season. I t generally arrives in flocks, often united with Tringa wriabilis and T. minuta,
and immediately resorts to the borders of rivers, lakes, ponds, and marshes, where it mingles with other
allied species, and while running along the sand utters sharp cries. I t rarely remains long, and often departs
on the day of its a rriv al; if it should appear at night, it is certain to be gone the next morning. I t passes
the winter in the temperate and warmer countries of Europe, which it leaves a t the approach o f spring, to
breed, it is said, in the north.”
Loche says it is a bird o f passage in Algeria; Mr. E. C. Taylor that it is occasionally killed in Upper
Egypt, but is by no means numerous th e re ; the Rev. H. B. Tristram found it extremely common in
Northern Africa in win ter; Dr. Adams plentiful about Alexandria and the Delta, but did not see jt above
C a iro ; Mr. C. A. Wright has shot it in Malta, both in the summer and winter plumage ; Mr. Jerdon remarks
that it is not so numerous in India as the Little S tin t; but, on the other hand, Captain Irby mentions that it
is very common in flocks, during the cold season, in Oudh and Kumaon; Mr. Swinhoe, who met with it
between Takoo and Pekin, in North China, says it remains in Foochow all the winter, on the banks o f inland
pools o r fallow paddy-fields, solitary or in small parties, and often in company with AEgialites philippinus; in
Amoy it is found in small parties, scattered over wet paddy-fields in the cold season, and in Formosa is a
common winter visitant to the inland waters and marshes; Captain Blakiston mentions that two were shot
in August in Northern Japan.