52 BULLETIN 142, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



are extended backwards, giving the bird a long, slim appearance. 

 Over their eggs or young, stilts sometimes hover on steadily beating 

 wings with dangling legs. In their excitement they sometimes climb 

 up into the air and make startling dives. 



But stilts are essentially waders; for wading they are highly 

 specialized, and here they show to best advantage. At times they 

 seem a bit wabbly on their absurdly long and slender legs, notably 

 when trembling with excitement over the invasion of their breeding 

 grounds. But really they are expert in the use of these well-adapted 

 limbs, and one can not help admiring the skillful and graceful way 

 in which they wade about in water breast deep, as well as on dry 

 land, in search of their insect prey. The legs are much bent at each 

 step, the foot is carefully raised and gently but firmly planted again 

 at each long stride. The legs are so long that when the bird is feed- 

 ing on land it is necessary to bend the legs backward to enable the bill 

 to reach the ground. 



Stilts can swim and even dive if necessary, but they are very awk- 

 ward at both, as might be expected with such long legs and the 

 absence of webbed feet; they never indulge in either action except 

 in cases of dire necessity. They are usually gentle and unsuspicious 

 birds, much more easily approached than most large waders. On 

 their breeding grounds they are especially fearless and demonstra- 

 tive. Some of their amusing antics are well described by Mr. Daw- 

 son (1923) as follows: 



While all are shouting lustily, the birds whose nests are more immediately 

 threatened are doing decoy stunts of several fascinating sorts. The favorite 

 line of effort is the broken-leg act, in which tbe bird collapses suddenly, as 

 though one of its little pipestem legs had snapped in two. The act is performed 

 with such sincerity, even when the bird is standing in only an inch or so of 

 water, that it never ceases to be amusing. Moreover, the trick is repeated 

 diligently every few feet, so that it begins to look as though the bird had taken 

 some fakir vow to prostrate itself every third or fourth step. The avocet, 

 now that one thinks of it, does the same thing; but it does it awkwardly or, 

 as it were, cautiously, and so unconvincingly. It has manifestly copied from 

 its more agile neighbor. The second line of effort, most faithfully pursued, 

 is wing fluttering. In this, again, the stilt is rather the mistress. It has 

 perfected a trick of putting up one wing at a time and letting the wind 

 towsle it about, as though it were really broken. Of course it also flutters 

 both wings, and goes through other nondescript flopping and fluttering per- 

 formances, such as are common to the family of shore birds. 



Voice. — My first impression of the note as heard on the breeding 

 grounds was recorded as a loud, guttural ichuck, whuck, wtmch; 

 at other times it has seemed harsh and shrill. Audubon (1840) 

 referred to their ordinary notes as " a whistling cry, different from 

 the cleek, cleek, cleek, which they emit when they have nests or 

 young." C. J. Maynard (1896), speaking of the breeding season, 

 says: "The note at this time was quite different from that given 



