442 BULLETIN 50, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. 



KEY TO THE AMERICAN AND HAWAIIAN SPECIES OF HIMANTOPUS. 



a. White of forehead not extended over crown; black of hindneck continuous with 

 that of back. 

 h. Lores with posterior half black; black of hindneck involving sides of neck also; 

 tail tipped with blackish. (Hawaiian Islands.) 



Himantopus knudseni (extralimital).o 

 66. Lores almost wholly white; black of hindneck much narrower, not involving 

 sides of neck; tail wholly pale gray. (United States to West Indies, north- 

 ern Brazil, Peru, and Galapagos Archipelago.) 



Himantopus mexicanus (p. 442). 



aa. White of forehead extended over crown; black of hindneck separated from that 



of back by a band of white. (Southern Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina, and Chile.) 



Himantopus melanurus (extralimital).'' 



HIMANTOPUS MEXICANUS (Muller). 



AMERICAN STILT. 



Adult male. — Whole forehead, a large spot above and behind pos- 

 terior half (more or less) of eye, lores (except near eye), lower portion 

 of auricular region, greater part of suborbital region, whole of malar 

 region, sides of neck and entire under parts, from chin to under tail- 

 coverts, inclusive, rump, and upper tail-coverts immaculate white, 

 sometimes tinged with creamy pink or pale vinaceous in breeding 

 season, especially on chest; rest of head, together with hmdneck, 

 back, scapulars, and wings uniform black with a slight but distinct 

 greenish blue gloss; tail pale gray; bill black; iris carmine red or rosy 

 carmine, sometimes grayish brown next to pupil; legs and feet (in 

 life) clear rose-pink. 



Adult female. — Similar to the adult male, but back and scapulars 

 grayish brown and black of other portions duller. 



Young. — Similar to adult female, but scapulars, interscapulars, 

 and tertials margined with buff or dull whitish, the black of head and 

 hindneck finely mottled with the same. 



Downy young. — Upper parts light bufl'y grayish mottled with dusky, 

 the back and rump with several large blotches of black; head, neck, 



a IJimantopus knudseni Stejneger, Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., x, no. 609, May 17, 1887, 

 81, pi. 6, fig. 2 (Kauai, Hawaiian Islands; coll. U. S. Nat. Mus.); Seebohm, Geogr. 

 Distr. Charadriidae, 1887, pp. xxi, 280; Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus., xxiv, 1896, 323. 



b Himantopus melanurus Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., x, 1817, 42 (Paraguay; 

 based on Zancudo Azara, Apunt. Parag., iii, 1805, 299); Sharpe, Cat. Birds Brit. 

 Mus., xxiv, 1896, 316. — Himantopus brasiliensis Brehm, Vog. Deutschl., 1831, 684 

 (Brazil); Sclater and Salvin, Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1873, 454 (Conchitas, Argentina; 

 fig. of head; synonymy; geog. range); Seebohm, Geog. Distr. Charadriidae, 1887, 

 pp. xxi, 281, fig.; Sclater and Hudson, Argentine Oru., 1889, 179. — Himantopus 

 mexicanus (not Charadrius mexicanus Muller) Maximilian, Beitr. Naturg. Bras., iv, 

 1833, 741; Burraeister, Syst. Ueb. Th. Bras., iii, 1856, 367. — Himantopus nigricollis 

 (not of Vieillot) Gould, in Darwin's Zool. Voy. 'Beagle,' iii, 1841, 130 (Rio de la 

 Plata; near Buenos Aires); Gay, Faun. Chil., Zool., 1847, 424; Pelzeln, Oru. Bras., 

 1871, 310, 457. 



