564 BLACK-WINGED STILT. 



of May, June and July, only a few of the wanderers being observed 

 in autumn. 



The Stilt is only an irregular visitor to Denmark, Germany, 

 Holland, the north of France and the lakes of Switzerland ; but — 

 like the Avocet — it breeds sparingly on the Neuseidler See in 

 Hungary, and abundantly in the marismas of Southern Spain, as well 

 as in the marshes of Sicily, and on the low shores of the Black, 

 Caspian and Aral Seas. It also nests freely by the lakes of North 

 Africa, though even there, and throughout the basin of the 

 Mediterranean, the bird is chiefly a summer-migrant, arriving in 

 March or April and seldom remaining after the end of November. 

 In winter it is found down both sides of Africa and in Madagascar ; 

 while in Asia it inhabits the warm and temperate regions, large 

 numbers breeding in some parts of the north of India, as well as in 

 Ceylon. 



The eggs, full clutches of which I found plentiful in the south of 

 Spain by May 4th, are usually 4 in number, and of a warm stone- 

 colour with hieroglyphic-like scrollings and blotches of black : 

 measurements 17 by i'25 in. By the pools in the marismas they 

 are placed in a slight nest of bents at the side of a tuft of rushes, 

 often so near the water as to be coated with mud from the birds' toes ; 

 but on the lower and wetter ground Mr. Abel Chapman met with 

 more solid structures, while on the lagoons of the Black Sea Messrs. 

 Young and Seebohm observed nests from two to four inches high, and 

 Col. Legge found great variety in the sites chosen in Ceylon. The 

 food consists of small univalves, gnats and other flies, beetles and 

 aquatic insects, in pursuit of which the bird wades up to the tarsal 

 joints in shallow water. The note is a clear pee, pee, pee, and when 

 the eggs or young are approached, gnrcet, gnreet, gnreet, sharply 

 reiterated. At such times the old birds fly close round the head of 

 the trespasser on their territory, hovering above him with slow beats 

 of their wings, and dangling their long legs, which are outstretched 

 during the ordinary flight. 



The male in first breeding-dress has the nape and hind-neck 

 black, but in the mature bird those parts are white, like the head ; 

 mantle and wings greenish-black ; tail grey ; rest of the plumage 

 white, with an evanescent pink tinge. Bill black, irides crimson, 

 legs and feet rose-pink. Length from tip of bill to end of tail 13-5 in. 

 (bill 2-5), wing 9-5 in., legs 10 in. The female has a browner 

 mantle. The young bird has the nape, hind-neck and shoulders 

 grey ; back and inner secondaries ash-brown ; quills brownish-black. 



