GRALL^. 57 



EECUEVrEOSTEA. L. 



Bill, long and slender, curved upwards ; tarsi, much longer than middle toe ; toes 

 united by an indented web ; hind toe, very short. 

 All parts of the world. 



78. Recurvirostra rutaricoUis. Temm. 



AVOCET. 



Head, and upper part of the neck, chestnut ; middle of wings, quills, and shoulders, 

 black, remainder white ; bill, black ; legs, blue ; tail, pale ash. 

 L., 17-5 ; W., 9 ; B., 375 ; T., 3-5. 

 Sab. — South Island ; Australia. 



HiMANTOPUS. Briss. 



Bill, much longer than the head, slender, straight ; tarsi, very long and slender ; toes, 

 united at the base by a small membrane ; hind toe wanting. 

 AU parts of the world. 



79. Himantopus leucocephalus. Gould. 



Pied Stilt. Tftumata. 



Back of the neck, back and wings, greenish-black ; tail, ash ; remainder, including a 

 band over the shoulders, wbite ; bill, black ; legs, red. In the young, the top of the head 

 and the back of the neck ai'e grev, mixed with white. 



L., 15 ; W., 9-6 ; B., 2-8 ; T., 4. 



Egg. — Pyriform ; pale yellow-brown, spotted and blotched with umber and black, the 

 black spots running together, and forming large patches on the thick end ; length, 1'5 ; 

 breadth, 1"23. (Ramsay.) 



Sab. — Both Islands ; Australia. 



" Notwithstanding the extraordinary length o£ its legs, this bird 

 is most graceful in all its movements ; and it is a pretty sight to 

 watch a flock of them on the edges of a lagoon, stalking about in the 

 shallow water in search of their food, which consists of aquatic insects 

 and small mollusca, and displaying their well-balanced bodies in a 

 variety of artistic attitudes. When on the wing, the legs are trailed 

 behind, with a slight swaying motion as if to jireserve the equipoise; 

 and the bird utters a sharp, quickly-repeated note, like the yelping of 

 a small cur." — Buller. 



80. Himantopus novse-zealandiae. Gould. 



Black Stilt. Kaki. 



Adult in summer. — Head, neck, and all the under-surface brownish-black, incUning to 

 slaty-grey on the face and towards the base of lower mandible ; back, rump, and upper 

 surface of wings and tail, glossy greenish-black ; irides and eyelids crimson ; legs and feet 

 pinky-red, the claws black. 



Adult in winter. — Crown and sides of the head, hind part of neck, and the whole of the 

 abdomen, sooty-black ; back, wings, and tail, glossy greenish-black ; the rest of the plumage 

 pure white. 



Young. — Porehead, sides of the head, fore-part and sides of the neck, and all theunder- 

 parts, pui-e white ; crown of the head, mantle, and scapulars blackish-brown, each feather 

 margined at the tip with fulvous ; hind part of the neck and between the shoulders dark 

 grey, mottled with paler grey ; back and rump white ; upper and lower surface of wings, 

 as well as the axillaiy plumes, black ; the upper wing-coverts and the long inner secondaries 

 margined with fulvous, and the primaries tipped with light grey ; tail-feathers greyish- 

 brown, the outer ones white on their inner webs, with an apical spot of brown. 



