230 Mr. H. Seebohm on the Genus Himantopus. 



Habits : Buller, Birds of New Zealand, p. 201. 



Effffs : Campbell, Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds, 

 p. 55. 



The Australian x\vocet may be diagnosed at all ages by its 

 combination of the following characters : — secondaries white 

 on both webs, a great deal of white on the scapulars, biit none 

 on the innermost secondaries. In breeding-plumage the head 

 and neck are chestnut. 



It is found throughout Australia, except in the extreme 

 north, and occasionally occurs in Tasmania, New Zealand^ 

 and Norfolk Island. 



The Australian Avocet is an intermediate form between 

 the Common Avocet and the North- American Avocet ; it 

 has less white on the wing than the former and more than 

 the latter. 



Himantopus americanus. 



Recurvirostra americana, Gmelin, Syst. Nat. i. p. 693 

 (1788); et auctorum plurimorum. 



Recurvirostra occidenialis, Vigors, Zool. Journ. iv. p. 356 

 (1829). 



Plates : Wilson, Amer. Orn. pi. 63. fig. 2 ; Gray, Gen. 

 Birds, iii. pi. 155. 



Habits : Baird, Brewer, and Ridgway, Water-Birds N. 

 Amer. i. p. 341. 



Eggs : Thienemann, Vogeleiern, pi. ixvi. fig. 3. 



The North-American Avocet may be distinguished at all 

 ages by the colour of its secondaries, which are white, with a 

 large patch of brown on the outer web. In breeding-plumage 

 the head and neck are pale chestnut. 



It breeds in North America, as far north as the Great Slave 

 Lake, and as far south as Texas. To the northern portion 

 of its range it is only a summer visitor, wintering in Central 

 America and the West Indies. 



These three species constitute the group of true Avocets. 

 Their ancestors seem to have left the Polar basin by way of 

 the European shores of the Atlantic, and to have occupied 

 Africa and the southern portion of the Palsearctic Region. 



