or little-known Limicolae, 259 



Recurvirostra rubricollis, Temm. Man. d'Orn. ii. p. 592 

 (1820) ; Lesson, Traite crOrn. p. 592 (1831) ; Gould, 

 Synops. B. Austr. pt. ii. (1837); B. Anstr. fol. vi. pi. 27; 

 Handb. B. Austr. ii. p. 249 (1865); Schlegel, Mus. Pays 

 Bas (Scolopac), p. 104 (1864); Gray, Ibis, 1862, p. 237; 

 Hand-list, iii. p. 47 (1871); Downing, Proc. Roy. Soc. Tas- 

 mania, vol. iii. pt. 2; Ibis, 1861, p. 119. 



Avocetta nova-zealandiee, EUman. Zoologist, 1861, p. 7470. 



Hab. Australia, Queensland, New South Wales; Tasmania 

 {Rev. T. J. Ewing) ; Norfolk Island {Doivning) ; New Zea- 

 land [Buller, EUman). 



Diagn. R. alba : capite et colli dimidio superiore castaneis, 

 hoc colore antice ad pectus producto ; scapularibus ex parte, 

 tectricibus alarum et remigibus primariis uigris ; rostro nigro ; 

 iride rufescenti-fusca ; pedibus caeruleis : long. tot. circa 18'5 

 poll.; rostr. 3-5; alBe8-6-9-2; tib. nud. 1-75 ; tars.3"2; dig. 

 med. 1-5-1-8. 



The Red-necked Avocet, which is perhaps the most beau- 

 tiful of the four known species, chiefly inhabits Australia, and 

 is there confined, for the most part, to the western and 

 southern portions of that country, although I have received 

 specimens and seen others from Queensland. Mr. Gould did 

 not meet with it himself during his rambles in New South 

 Wales, but has now and then seen it in collections from those 

 parts ; and there is a specimen thence in the Leiden Museum. 



Like other species of the genus, " it frequents," says Mr. 

 Gould, " the shallow parts of lakes, inlets of the sea, and the 

 muddy banks of the rivers, often wading knee-deep in the 

 water, and readily swimming when necessity requires it so to 

 do. Its food consists of minute marine moUusca and insects, 

 which it gathers from the surface of the mud with its deli- 

 cately organized bill, the structure of which is admirably 

 adapted for the purpose. In Western Australia the favourite 

 localities of this bird are the lakes in the neighbourhood of 

 Perth and on Rottnest Island, where it is seen in small flocks 

 in company with Himantopus leucocephalus . In South Aus- 

 tralia the river Murray and the shores of Lake Alexandrina 

 afford situations equally adapted for its existence." 



