2 78 CHARADRIIFORMES 



North America, migrating to Peru and Brazil, has a black occiput 

 and nape ; H. knudseni of the Sandwich Islands has the sides of 

 the neck also black ; H. hrasiliensis of southern South America 

 has the nape only black, with a white collar below ; IT. leuco- 

 cephalus of Australia and New Zealand, which visits the Malay 

 Islands, the Philippines, the Moluccas and Papuasia, is similar, 

 but the black does not reach the eye ; H. melas of New Zealand 

 is uniform black. H. {Cladorhynclms) pectorcdis of Southern 

 Australia has webbed feet like the four-toed Avocets, though itself 

 three-toed like other Stilts, from which a bay pectoral band 

 distinguishes it. Of the Avocets with their curious up-curved 

 beak, Becurvirostra aiidina, of the Chilian Andes, alone resembles 

 the Stilts in possessing a black mantle. B. avocetta, which bred 

 in England until at least 1824, now ranges from Denmark and 

 Holland to Mongolia and South Africa, though decidedly local ; in 

 Asia it migrates southwards to Ceylon and Hainan. The plumage 

 is white, with the crown, nape, inner scapulars, and part of the 

 wings black, the legs light blue. It is called Cobbler's Awl, from 

 its long, flexible bill, or Yelper, from its loud clear cry. Its general 

 habits and slight nest recall those of Plovers, though the eggs are 

 larger ; while it seeks for aquatic creatures, in shallows or pools 

 left by the tide, with a curious scooping sidelong action of the 

 beak. B. amcricana, with a pale rufous head and neck, inhabits 

 temperate America, extending in winter to the "West Indies and 

 Guatemala : A. ruhricollis {novae lioUandiae), with those portions 

 chestnut, ranges from Australia, where it breeds, to New Zealand. 

 Sub-fam. 2. — The Tringinae of the present work — four-toed 

 unless otherwise stated — are often separated into the groups 

 Fhalaro2Jodinae, Totaninae, and Tringinae proper ; the first being 

 remarkable for the Coot-like digits with lobed webs. Ph alaropns 

 fulicarius, the Grey Phalarope, which visits us in winter, and 

 has even reached Chili and New Zealand, breeds in Spitsbergen, 

 Iceland, Greenland, Arctic America, and Asia. It is blackish and 

 chestnut above and rufous below, with a little white on the face, 

 wings, and tail ; but the plumage differs remarkably in winter, the 

 upper parts becoming grey with a black nuchal patch, and the lower 

 white. As in all the genus, the female is said to court the male, 

 which is duller, and performs most of the duties of incubation. The 

 eggs are larger and rounder than in the next species, the nest less 

 concealed. P. {Lohi^ies) hypcrhorcus, the Eed-necked Phalarope, 



