Mr. H. Seebohra on the Genus Himantopus. 231 



Finding the Oriental Region already occupied during the 

 breeding-season by the Stilts^ they seem to have sent off a 

 detachment to Australia during the Glacial period. Here 

 also the ground appears to have been partially occupied 

 by congeneric species^ so that a second emigration became 

 necessary, which found a home on the west coast of the 

 United States. 



Himantopus pectoralis, 



Recurvirostra leucocephala, Vieillot, N. Diet. d'Hist. Nat. 

 iii. p. 103 (1816). 



Recurvirostra orientalis, Cuvier, Reg. An. i. p. 496 (1817). 



Leptorhynchus pectoralis, Dubus, Mag. Zool. v. pi. 45 

 (1835) ; et auctorum plurimorum. 



Himantopus palmatus, Gould, Syn. Birds Austr. ii. pi. 14 

 (1837). 



Cladorhynchus pectoralis (Dubus), Gray, List Gen. Birds, 

 p. 69 (1840). 



Cladorhynchus orientalis (Cuv.), Selys-Longch. Bull. d'Ac. 

 Roy. Belg. xviii. pt. i. p. 9 (1851). 



Cladorhynchus leucocephalus (Vieill.), Harting, Ibis, 1874, 

 p. 252. 



Plates : Gould, Birds of Australia, vi. pi. 26. 



Habits : Gould, Handb. B. Austr, ii. p. 248. 



Egffs : Campbell, Nests and Eggs of Australian Birds, 

 p. 55. 



The Banded Stilt (or Banded Avocet, as it ought to be 

 called) may be distinguished at all ages and seasons by its 

 white mantle and brown scapulars, a combination found in no 

 other species of the genus. A second and equally good 

 diagnosis is webbed feet, but no hind toe. In breeding- 

 plumage the lower breast is chestnut, shading into a brown 

 ventral band. 



It is a resident in the southern half of Australia, and has 

 occurred in Tasmania. 



The Banded Avocet is the sole representative of the Semi- 

 avocets, which I have endeavoured to show probably emi- 

 grated from the Polar basin along the Pacific coast of Asia. 



