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Harting, ibis, 1869, p. 427, pl. xii.; Blyth, B. Burm. p. 156; Dav. et Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 474; Hume and Dav., Str. F. vi. p. 463; Hume, Str. F. viii. p. 113; Oates, B. Br. Burm. ii. p. 395; Murray, Avif. Brit. Ind. ii. p. 611, No. 1289. Platalea pygmaea, Linn., Syst. Nat. i. p. 231. Eurynorhynchus griseus (Nilss.), Temm., Man d' Orn. ii. p. 594; Jerd., B. Ind. iii. p. 693, No, 887. :-

The Spoon-billed Stint.
 

In summer the head and upper parts are ferruginous, the feathers with dark brown centres; breast ferruginous; throat and breast margined with white; under surface of the body from below the breast becoming whiter towards the tail; primaries dark brown; legs and feet black; bill black; irides deep brown.

Length. :- 6.5 to 6.7 inches; wing 4.1; tail 1.7; tarsus 0.8; bill from gape 1.

In winter plumage the forehead, crown and hind neck, white; back and scapulars are hair brown, each feather with a darker shaft streak; lores ashy white; cheeks, ear coverts and sides of the neck whitish, streaked with brown; rump and upper tail coverts dusky brown, the feathers edged paler; tail brown, the inner webs of all the feathers except the central pair white; shafts of the lateral feathers whitish; lesser wing coverts uniform hair brown; median and greater coverts dark brown, broadly edged with white ; quills dark brown, with white shafts; under surface of the body, including the axiliaries and under wing coverts, white; the sides of the breast streaked with brown.

Length. :- 6.5 inches ; wing 3.7; tail 1.5.

Hab. :- Arracan, Pegu, Tenasserim, and the mouth of the Ganges, usually found in the company of other Stints.

Harting, ibis; 1869, p. 427, pl. xii.; Blyth, B. Burm. p. 156; Dav. et Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 474; Hume and Dav., Str. F. vi. p. 463; Hume, Str. F. viii. p. 113; Oates, B. Br. Burm. ii. p. 395. Platalea pygmaea, Linn., Syst. Nat. i. p. 231. Eurynorhynchus griseus (Nilss.), Temm., Man d' Orn. ii. p. 594; Jerd., B. Ind. iii. p. 693, No. 887. -

The Spoon-billed Stint.

In summer the head and upper parts are ferruginous, the feathers with dark brown centres; breast ferruginous; throat and breast margined with white; under surface of the body from below the breast becoming whiter towards the tail; primaries dark brown; legs and feet black; bill black; irides deep brown.

Length. - 6.5 to 6.7 inches; wing 4.1; tail 1.7 ; tarsus 0.8 ; bill from gape 1.

In winter plumage the forehead, crown and hind neck, white; back and scapulars are hair brown, each feather with a darker shaft streak; lores ashy white; cheeks, ear coverts and sides of the neck whitish, streaked with brown; rump and upper tail coverts dusky brown, the feathers edged paler; tail brown, the inner webs of all the feathers except the central pair white; shafts of the lateral feathers whitish; lesser wing coverts uniform hair brown ; median and greater coverts dark brown, broadly edged with white ; quills dark brown, with white shafts; under surface of the body, including the axiliaries and under wing coverts, white; the sides of the breast streaked with brown.

Length. - 6.5 inches ; wing 3.7; tail 1.5

Hab. - Arracan, Pegu, Tenasserim, and the mouth of the Ganges, usually found in the company of other Stints.

The Spoon-billed Stint.

Platalea pygmaea, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 231 (1766). Eurynorhynchus griseus, Nilss. Orn. Suec. ii. p. 29 (1821); Pearson, As. Res. xix, p. 69, pl. ix; Jerdon, B. I. iii, p. 693. Eurynorhynchus pygmaeus, Boie, Isis, 1826, p. 979; Blyth, Cat, p. 270 ; id. Ibis, 1867, p. 169; Harting, Ibis, 1869, p. 427, pl. xii; Armstrong, S. F. iv, p. 343; Hume & Dav. S. F. vi, p. 462; Hume, S. F. vii, p. 487; id. Cat. no. 887 ; Oates, B. B. ii, p. 395; Sharpe, Cat. B. M. xxiv, p. 535. Tringa pygmaea, Seebohm, Charadr. p. 440.

Coloration in winter. Forehead, supercilia, lores, cheeks, and whole lower plumage, including axillaries, white; upper surface light brown with dark shaft-stripes; wing-coverts darker, the greater coverts white-tipped; bastard wing, primary-coverts, primaries, and secondaries dark brown, inner webs of secondaries chiefly white; rump and upper tail-coverts dark brown in the middle, white at the sides; middle rectrices dark brown, outer paler, with edges and shaft-stripes white.

In summer the upper parts are blackish, and the feathers fringed with rufous; fore neck and upper breast deep ferruginous, and the whole breast spotted with dark brown.

Bill black ; irides deep brown ; legs and feet black (Jerdon).

Length 6.5 ; tail 1.5 ; wing 4; tarsus .8 ; bill from gape 1.

Distribution. A very rare bird, resorting to North-east Siberia in summer and found in winter on the coasts of China, Bengal, and Burma. The only recorded localities in the Bay of Bengal are Saugor Island at the mouth of the Hoogly (a specimen has also once been obtained in the Calcutta bazaar), Chittagong, Akyab, mouth of Rangoon river, and Amherst.

Habits, &c. Scarcely anything is known except that the few specimens obtained have been shot on mud and sand flats, in company with Tringas and other small waders.

The Spoon-billed Stint.

Male 6 1/2". Legs black. Bill 1", black. Forehead, supercilia, cheeks, and axillaries white. Tail-coverts dark brown, margined white. Shafts white, tipped black. Lower parts snow-white. A very rare bird, visiting N.E. Siberia in summer, and found in winter in China, Burma, and Bengal. (J. 887. B. 1470.)

The Spoon-bill Stint.

Platalea pygmaea Linn., Syst. Nat., 10th ed., i, p. 140 (1758) (Surinam). Eurynorhynchus pygmaeus. Blanf. & Oates, iv, p. 271.

Vernacular names. None recorded.

Description. - Breeding plumage. Forehead mottled rufous, black and white; crown black, with rufous edges and narrow white tips; hind-neck duller and greyer; back, scapulars and inner secondaries black, each feather edged laterally with rufous and terminally with white; lower back, rump and upper tail-coverts duller with no rufous; central tail-feathers blackish, the inner webs paler, lateral feathers paler grey-brown with white edges; wing-coverts brownish-black with pale edges, the greater with broad white tips; primaries and primary coverts black, the former with pale inner webs ; outer secondaries dark brown with whitish edges and tips; sides of head and neck, chin, throat and foreneck pale rufous, mottled with white; upper breast rufous, paling to white on the lower and boldly spotted with black; axillaries, under wing-coverts and rest of lower plumage white, the black spots extending down the flanks.

Colours of soft parts. Iris dark brown ; bill, legs and feet black.

Measurements. Wing 96 to 105 mm.; tail 42 to 50 mm.; tarsus about 20 to 23 mm.; culmen 21 to 23 mm.

In Winter plumage the rufous on the head and neck is replaced by white and the breast is unspotted or nearly so; the rufous on the upper plumage disappears, the mantle-feat hers are more broadly edged with white, and are grey-brown, instead of black, with black shafts.

Young birds are like the adult in Summer without the rufous.

Distribution. Breeding North-East Siberia. In Winter South to China, Burma and Eastern Bengal. In Southern Burma it has been recorded several times; one specimen was obtained near Calcutta, two were shot by Mr. Eden in the Sibsagar District of Assam and one by myself on the Megna Sunderbands.

Nidification unknown.

Habits. Very little recorded. In Siberia it is said to haunt tundras close to the bigger rivers. In India it is found either singly or in pairs, generally in company with other small Waders. The two shot by Mr. Eden were a pair and that shot by myself a single bird on a sand-bank in company with the Little Stint. The bird shot by myself had eaten nothing but the most minute red crabs, which swarmed everywhere on the sand and adjoining mud-flats. The only note uttered was a shrill " wheet, wheet" as it rose.

Platalea pygmea Linn., Syst. Nat., 10th ed., vol. i, pt. 40, Jan. 1758: Surinam.

Eurynorhynchus griseus Nilsson, Orn. Suecica, vol. ii, p. 29, 1829; new name only.

Eurynorhynchus orientalis Blyth, Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. xiii, p. 179, March 1844 : near Calcutta.