HIMANTOPUS. 73 



Genus HIMANTOPUS. 



The genus Himantopus was established in 17G0 by Brisson in his ' Orni- 

 thologia/ V. p. 33, for the reception of the Stilts. The Common Stilt 

 {H. candidus), being the Himantopus himantopus of Brisson, is the type. 

 Brisson placed the Avocet in a separate genus, Avocetta, which is a 

 synonym of the genus Recurvirostra of Linnteus, neither of these great 

 ornithologists being acquainted with the Australian species, which forms 

 the connecting link between them. 



The Stilts may be distinguished from the birds in the other genera in 



this family in which the tarsus is reticulated all round by their very long 



legs. They may be divided into three subgenera, which are distinguished 



as follows : — 



TTi X 1 1 1 r Recurvirostra. 

 l^eet webbed i ,^, , , 



LCiadornynchus.} tt- i j. i j. 

 ■^ V Hind toe absent. 



Himantopus. J 



This genus contains ten species, and may be regarded as cosmopolitan^ 

 except that it is not represented in the Arctic Region. There are four 

 Avocets and five Stilts, each, of which group has a single representative 

 in Europe; the species which combines both characters is confmed to 

 Australia. 



The Stilts frequent the margins of pools in extensive salt-marshes and 

 the low-lying sea-coasts. They are more or less gregarious, and live in 

 scattered colonies. They walk in a very graceful manner, and run 

 quickly, often wading to some considerable depth. Their flight is mode- 

 rately powerful and often long sustained, and their loug legs are stretched 

 out behind, in the same manner as those of the Heron. Their notes are 

 loud and clear. Their food consists of small shells and aquatic insects, 

 for which their long bills enable them to search amongst the mud. Their 

 nests are merely slight depressions near the water, lined with a little dry 

 herbage ; and their eggs are generally four in number, buff in ground- 

 colour, spotted and blotched Avith brown of various shades. 



