RECURVIROSTRID^ — THE STILTS — HIMANTOPUS. 



349 



average size of the latter was 1.75 by 1.19 ; the extremes were 1.88 by 1.25, and 1.60 

 by 1.10. 



Two sets of the eggs of this species (8. I. No. 747 and 665) — one from Matamo- 

 ras, Mexico, procured by Lieutenant Couch, the other by Dr. Wurdemann at Calca- 

 sieu Pass, La. — measure 1.73 by 1.20 inches, and have a ground-color of dark drab, 

 some with a rufous, others with an olivaceous, tinge. In other examples these 

 shades are more or less intermingled, and they are spotted and blotched with a dark 

 bistre hardly distinguishable from black. 



An egg in my cabinet, collected by Mr. N. W. Bishop on the Pampas of South 

 America, belonging to the southern species (//. brasiliensis), measures 1.80 by 1.30 

 inches, but, except in its larger size, is not appreciably different from the eggs of 

 the North American species. 



