244 Mr. J. E. Hartiug on rare 



black, being in summer ferruginous or sandy red (which colour 

 extends to the whole of the neck and the upper part of the 

 breast) , in autumn grey, more especially in birds of the year, 

 and in winter pm-e white. In the winter plumage therefore it 

 resembles R. andina in the colour of the head, but differs from 

 it in the colour of the wings, which resemble those of R. avo- 

 cetta, save that the white secondaries are so nearly obscured 

 by the dark wing-coverts that the closed wing presents the 

 appearance of being crossed by only one white bar (and 

 that a narrow one) instead of two. The bill is much less 

 recurved and less attenuated at the extremity than in any of 

 the other species. The tarsus is longer than in R. avocetta and 

 R. andina ; but the latter has a longer wing. 



R. novee-hollandice, inhabiting Australia and New Zealand, 

 may at once be distinguished by the rich chestnut colouring 

 of the whole of the head and upper portion of the neck, which 

 is retained, apparently, throughout the year, though of a paler 

 hue in winter. The coloration of the wings is much the same 

 as in the last-named species, save that there is much less black 

 upon the scapulars, and these black feathers do not meet to 

 form one broad mesial patch in the centre of the back as in R. 

 avocetta and R. americana. 



The legs and feet in all the species are of a dehcate bluish 

 grey, the soles of the feet tinged with buff. By some authors 

 they have been described as black ; but this was in conse- 

 quence of the descriptions having been taken from dried 

 skins. The bill is of the colour and appearance of whale- 

 bone ; the irides bright red or reddish hazel. 



In structure Recurvirostra closely resembles Numtniiis and 

 Tot anus. The tongue is very short in proportion to the 

 length of the bill, slightly emarginateat the base, with a few 

 conical papillae, slender, tapering to a point, and flattened 

 above. On the palate are two longitudinal series of blunt 

 papillae. The posterior aperture of the nares is linear, nearly 

 an inch in length, papillate on the edges. The oesophagus is 

 between seven and eight inches in length, and inchnes to the 

 right side. In diameter it is about half an inch at the upper 

 part, dilating to about three quarters of an inch at its entrance 



