184 ALLEN*S naturalist's LIBRARY, 



and on the islands both of salt and fresh water. It seems as much 

 at home on the plough-fields and river-banks in Inverness-shire 

 as on the sandy shores of the Fame Islands. I have found full 

 sets of fresh eggs in Inverness-shire as early as April 20th, and 

 young birds by the middle of May. The markings on the 

 eggs consist sometimes of zig-zag streaks, and sometimes of 

 spots and blotches more or less well-defined, small specimens 

 of the latter kind being difficult to distinguish from some 

 varieties of the Great Plover." The eggs are three in number, 

 the ground-colour varying from warm clay-brown to stone- 

 colour and pale greenish-olive. The overlying spots are 

 blackish or dark chocolate-brown, generally distributed over 

 the egg, sometimes as blotches and often in lines and scrib- 

 blings. The underlying spots are pale purplish-grey, and are 

 distinctly perceptible, especially on the more lightly-marked 

 eggs. Axis, 2-i-2'55 inches; diam , I'S-rys. 



THE AVOCETS AND STILTS. SUB-FAMILY 

 HIMANTOPODIN^. 



The members of this Sub-family have been associated 

 together by recent students of the Charadriidce, and Mr. 

 Seebohm has gone so far as to put the Avocet and the 

 Stilt into the same genus, a conclusion with which I cannot 

 agree ; and it is even doubtful to my mind whether these birds 

 are not sufficiently distinct from one another as to deserve being 

 classed in different Sub-families. There is no dertrum or 

 swelling at the end of the bill, which shows that they are not 

 Plovers, and the legs are very long, especially in the case of 

 the Stilts. In the latter the bill is straight, whereas in the 

 Avocets it is up-curved and awl-like. 



THE AVOCETS. GENUS RECURVIROSTRA. 



Recurvirostra^ Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 256 (1766). 



Type, R. aiwcetta (Linn.). 



Four species of Avocets are known, and the genus is 



found over the temperate and tropical portions of both 



