396 Mr. A. E. Knox on the Habits of the Black-winged Stilt. 



attending the occurrence of the individual in question which 

 appear to me to be especially worthy of notice, as tending to 

 throw some light on its remarkable, and, to the ordinary ob- 

 server, grotesque external conformation. 



The pond to which I have alluded is very shallow — the depth 

 of the water, even at fifteen paces from the shore, scarcely ex- 

 ceeding a foot. About that distance from the banks, the surface 

 was covered with numerous blossoms of the Water Crowfoot 

 [Ranunculus aquatilis). On examining these next day, and fre- 

 quently afterwards during last month, I found them inhabited 

 by numerous minute Dipterous and Coleopterous insects (small 

 flies, midges, and beetles), comfortably nestled at the bottom of 

 the flowers among the stamens, from which, indeed, none but the 

 most delicate and attenuated instrument would be capable of 

 extracting them without at the same time injuring the blossoms. 

 Now, not one of our wading or swimming birds, except the Stilt, 

 possesses a beak perfectly adapted to this purpose. But the 

 Stilt has a bill almost as finely pointed as that of a Humming- 

 bird ; and those which make the nearest approach to it, as some 

 among the smaller Tringce, want the accompaniment of length 

 of limb — that unusual development of tibia and tarsus — to enable 

 them to wade to a sufiicient distance from the shore. 



The bird was first noticed by an intelligent lad, the son of a 

 small farmer of the name of Pearson, while driving the cows 

 home to be milked in the evening. It was then standing nearly 

 up to its belly in the water, and rapidly extracting the insects 

 from the flowers, or, as the boy supposed, picking the petals 

 themselves. It allowed him to approach within twenty yards 

 before it took flight, when it extended its long red legs behind 

 it, after the manner of a heron, and, alighting again on the 

 opposite bank, immediately recommenced wading out to the 

 water-plants. Young Pearson then hastened home to his father, 

 who lives at a short distance from the pond; and the latter, 

 hurrying to the spot with a loaded gun, found the bird em- 

 ployed as before among the flowers of the "Water Crowfoot. But 

 it was now exceedingly shy and wary of the gun, flying from 

 one side of the pond to the other, before Pearson could get 

 within shot (but never uttering any cry or sound), so that at 



