BRAZILIAN STILT 193 
BRAZILIAN STILT: 
Himantopus brasiliensis 
White ; line behind each eye, nape, back of neck, interscapulium, 
‘and wings black; a narrow white band divides the black neck from 
the black upper back; bill black, feet orange; length 14, wing 8.5 
inches. Female similar. 
Tus bird is resident and common in the Plata dis- 
trict, and is called in the vernacular Téru-real, also 
Zancudo (Stilt). It frequents marshes and lagoons, 
and wades in search of food in the shallow water 
near the margin. It is lively in its movements, and 
notwithstanding the great length of its legs has a 
pretty, graceful appearance on the ground. On the 
wing, however, it is seen at its best, the flight being 
remarkably swift and free, while the sharply-pointed 
glossy-black wings contrast finely with the snow- 
white plumage of the body, and the red legs stretched 
out straight behind have the appearance of a long, 
slender tail. Stilts are fond of aerial exercises, pur- 
suing each other with marvellous velocity through 
the air, so that a few moments after the spectator 
has almost lost sight of them in the sky above they 
are down again within a few yards of the surface. 
While pursuing each other they constantly utter 
their excited yelping cries, which in tone remind 
one of the musical barking of some hounds. 
The nest is made on the low ground close to the 
water, and consists merely of a slight lining of dry 
grass and leaves gathered in a small depression on 
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