A Manual of Philippine Birds. Richard C. McGregor
and Worcester MS.)
Of the stints that visit the Philippine Islands in winter the Asiatic little stint undoubtedly occurs in greater numbers than all the others taken together; it is the only abundant species and is usually found in large or small flocks on tide-flats.
115. PISOBIA DAMACENSIS (Horsfield).
LONG-TOED STINT.
Totanus damacensis Horsfield, Trans. Linn. Soc. (1821), 13, 192.
Limonites damacensis Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 24, 553; Hand-List (1899), 1, 163; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 28.
Pisobia damacensis A. O. U. Committee, Auk (1908), 35, 367.
Basilan (McGregor); Luzon (Heriot); Mindanao (Mearns); Palawan (Platen, Steere Exp., Bourns & Worcester). Japan, eastern Siberia, islands of Bering Sea, China to northeastern Bengal; in winter Burma to Australia.
“Adult male in winter plumage.—Similar to the winter plumage of L. minuta and L. ruficollis, but darker than either of them, with the head and neck much more thickly spotted with black, and the lower throat and fore neck very distinctly streaked or mottled with brown. The species can of course be distinguished from both of the above species by its long toes.
“Adult male in summer plumage.—Almost exactly similar to L. minuta, but easily distinguished by the length of the middle toe and the color of the legs. Length, 132; culmen, 178; wing, 86; tail, 36; tarsus, 20; middle toe with claw, 23.
“Adult female.—Similar to the male in plumage. ‘Bill blackish, olive-brown at base of lower jaw; feet grayish yellow, with joints darker olive; iris dark brown.’ (Stejneger.)” (Sharpe.)
116. PISOBIA TEMMINCKI (Leisler).
TEMMINCK’S STINT.
Tringa temminckii Leisler, in Bechst. Naturg. Deutschl. (1812), 2, 78.
Limonites temmincki Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 24, 555; Hand-List (1899), 1, 163; Oates, Cat. Birds’ Eggs (1902), 2, 53; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 28.
Negros (Steere Exp.). Northern Europe and Asia, northern and northeastern Africa; in winter Indian Peninsula and China.
“Adult in winter plumage.—Above ashy gray, slightly varied with dusky shaft-streaks; scapulars bronzy brown like inner secondaries; lower back and rump brown, with a subterminal shade of darker brown; upper tail-coverts also dark brown, with longitudinal shaft-streaks of darker brown; wing-coverts brown, with a slight bronzy gloss, shaft-lines darker, and slight indications of paler edges; greater coverts tipped with white, forming a cross-band on the wing; alula, primary-coverts, and quills blackish brown; shafts of the primaries pale whity brown, that of the first outer primary white; alula white with a brown center; all the primaries white at the extreme base; secondaries brown, white at base of inner web, and fringed with white at the ends; long inner secondaries bronzy brown with dusky centers; middle tail-feathers dusky brown, the remainder ashy brown, with white in the center, increasing in extent toward outer feathers, two external ones entirely white; crown ashy brown like back; lores dull brown surmounted by a streak of white, hardly joined to a second streak above the ear-coverts, which forms an indistinct eyebrow; eyelid white; sides of face and ear-coverts ashy brown, streaked with dusky brown; cheeks and throat white, with a few dusky streaks on cheeks and lower throat; fore neck and upper breast light ashy brown; lower breast, abdomen, sides of body, and flanks pure white; thighs brown, white internally; under tail-coverts white; under wing-coverts and axillars white; coverts round the bend of wing dusky brown with whitish edges; lower primary-coverts brown, forming a patch; quills below ashy brown, somewhat lighter along the inner edge. Length, 140; culmen, 15; wing, 96; tail, 46; tarsus, 18; middle toe with claw, 18.
“Adult male in breeding plumage.—Only differs from the winter plumage in being more mottled above, the feathers having black centers, and being tinged with rufous, especially on the edges of the feathers; lower throat and chest have some distinct shaft-lines. ‘Bill olive-black, lighter olive brownish at base, especially on lower mandible; feet olive-yellow, joints more dusky; iris dark brown.’ (Stejneger.) Length, 135; culmen, 19; wing, 94; tail, 46; tarsus, 16; middle toe with claw, 18.
“Adult female in breeding plumage.—Similar to the male, and apparently quite as much mottled. Length, 132; culmen, 20; wing, 99; tail, 47; tarsus, 16; middle toe with claw, 18.
“Young birds.—These can always be distinguished from the adults in summer or winter plumage by the narrow sandy buff margins to the feathers of the upper surface, and by the ashy fulvous tinge on the fore neck, which is devoid of the dusky streaks seen in the adults.
“Nestling.—Covered with golden buff down, spotted with black, and spangled with silvery tips to the down; the black forms a line down the center of back; under surface dull white, tinged with buff on the fore neck.” (Sharpe.)
Genus HETEROPYGIA Coues, 1861.
Bill straight, very slightly expanded at tip; culmen less than tarsus and equal to middle toe without claw.
117. HETEROPYGIA AURITA (Latham).
SHARP-TAILED SANDPIPER.
Tringa aurita Latham, Ind. Orn. Suppl. (1801), 66.
Totanus acuminatus Horsfield, Trans. Linn. Soc. (1821), 13, 192.
Heteropygia acuminata Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. (1896), 24, 566; Hand-List (1899), 1, 163; McGregor and Worcester, Hand-List (1906), 28.
Pisobia aurita A. O. U. Committee, Auk (1908), 25, 366.
Batan N. (McGregor); Luzon (Celestino); Mindanao (Everett). Alaska, eastern Siberia, and China, south in winter to Australia and New Zealand.
“Adult male in breeding plumage.—General color above sandy rufous, streaked with black down the center of the feathers, these black centers being very much more distinct on the scapulars and inner secondaries, where the rufous margins are very bright; lower back, rump, and upper tail-coverts dusky black, the lateral tail-coverts sandy rufous barred with black; lesser wing-coverts dull brown; median coverts brown; with blackish centers and ashy fulvous margins; greater coverts uniform dusky brown with white tips; alula uniform brown; primary-coverts blackish, the inner ones tipped with white; quills brown, dusky blackish at tips and along outer webs, the shafts for the most part white, brown toward the bases; secondaries brown, with a little white at base of inner webs, and narrowly fringed with white near tips, inner ones a little more broadly; tail ashy brown fringed with white round the end, the center feathers blackish and extended a little beyond the ends of the others; crown bright sandy rufous minutely streaked with black; lores and a distinct eyebrow white, with narrow streaks of blackish; sides of face white, with dusky streaks; ear-coverts tinged with rufous; under surface white; chin unspotted; throat, fore neck, and chest tinged with sandy rufous, and minutely spotted with dusky black, which sometimes takes the form of longitudinal streaks or arrowhead bars, the latter form of markings being especially distinct on the sides of body; breast and abdomen white, the latter with a few linear streaks of black; under wing-coverts and axillars white, bend of wing mottled with blackish bases; lower primary-coverts dusky with whitish tips; quills dusky below. ‘Bill blackish brown, browner or reddish brown at angle of mouth, clear gray at base of lower mandible; feet yellowish ocher-color, tinged with olive, darker on the joints; iris dark brown.’ (Dybowski.) Length, 178; culmen, 28; wing, 137; tail, 53; tarsus, 30.
“Adult female.—Similar to the male.
“Adult in winter plumage.—Much browner than the summer plumage and without any rufous except,