BLACK-WINGED STILT-SHANK. 315 



such as might be expected from ornithologists who seem to 

 consider the habits of birds as of little importance. It is 

 said to be plentiful in many parts of Asia, and the south- 

 eastern portions of Europe, whence it migrates into Germany, 

 France, and Italy. It feeds on worms and insects ; and, 

 according to M. Temminck, nestles on a small eminence 

 formed in the marshes, laying four eggs of the size and form 

 of those of the Avocet, dull greenish, marked with numerous 

 grey spots, and dotted with middle-sized and very small spots 

 of a reddish-brown. 



Young. — According to the same author, the young have 

 the feet of an orange colour, the feathers of the back and 

 wings brown, with whitish margins ; those of the upper part 

 of the head, occiput, and nape blackish-grey, with whitish 

 borders. 



