THE BLACK-NECKED STILT. 



TILT would be a peculiarly 

 appropriate name for this 

 bird, with its excessively 

 long legs, were it less 

 graceful and dignified in 

 its walk, moving on land with easy 

 and measured tread, not in a " tremul- 

 ous manner," says Col. Goss, as stated 

 by some writers. 



The Stilt is an inhabitant of 

 temperate North America, from New 

 Brunswick, Maine, Minnesota and 

 Oregon southward ; south in winter to 

 Peru, Brazil, and West Indies. It is 

 rare in the middle and western 

 provinces, except Florida, also along 

 the Pacific coast ; breeding in suitable 

 localities and in abundance in western 

 Texas, southern Colorado, Utah, 

 eastern Colorado, and southern Oregon. 

 Extensive as is the range of the Stilt, 

 we wonder how many of our readers 

 have ever had the pleasure of seeing 

 even a picture of one. The specimen 

 depicted in Birds is regarded by 

 experts as about as nearly perfect as 

 art can produce. It will be observed 

 that the eyes are alive in expression, 

 as, indeed, are those of all our speci- 

 mens that have appeare in recent 

 numbers. 



This slender wader inhabits the 

 shores of bays, ponds, and swales where 

 scantily covered with short grasses. It 

 swims buoyantly and gracefully, and on 

 land runs swiftly, with partially raised 

 wings, readily tacking or stopping in 

 its chase after insect life. Its flight, 

 says Goss, is not very swift, but 

 strong and steady, with sweeping 

 strokes, legs fully extended and head 

 partially drawn back, after the manner 

 of the Avocet, (see Birds, Vol. II, p. 

 15), and like the latter, will often 

 meet one a long distance from its nest, 

 scolding and threatening. At such 

 times its legs are as fully extended as 

 its legs, the latter often dangling as it 

 retreats. 



The food of the Black-necked Stilt 

 consists of insects, minute shell fish 

 and larvae, and various small forms of 

 life. The birds are social, usually 

 living and breeding in small flocks. 



The nests of these birds — when placed 

 on dry, sandy land — are slight depres- 

 sions worked out to fit the body ; on 

 wet lands they are upon bunches or 

 masses of vegetation. Eggs three or 

 four, buff to brownish-olive, irregularly 

 but rather thickly splashed and spotted 

 with blackish brown. 



THE ENGLISH SPARROW. 



When the English Sparrow (see 

 Birds, Vol. II, p. 208), was first intro- 

 duced into Canada, we are informed 

 by Mr. Albert Webber, the city of 

 Hamilton provided for its protection 

 by causing to be erected a large iron 

 pole, on which was set a huge box 

 containing many apartments, the pole 

 surrounded by a circular iron railing. 

 Each day during the winter a sheaf of 

 oats was attached to the pole. In a 

 year or two the Sparrows became so 

 numerous that the authorities were 

 obliged to abandon the project of con- 

 tributing to the support of the birds 



and left them to shift for themselves. 

 They soon found, however, that the 

 little foreigners were quite independent 

 of the city fathers. 



Indefatigable, persistent, industrious 

 breeders — at once rebuilding their 

 nests, if destroyed by accident or other- 

 wise — there is little hope of their 

 extermination, if such action should 

 be desired in the future. Mr. Thomas 

 Goodearl, an observer of these birds in 

 their nativity, predicts that the English 

 Sparrow will be the survivor — though 

 not the fittest — of all English birds. 



C. C. M. 



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