HIMANTOPUS. ]51 



Length. — 17 to 18 inches; bill 3-5, curved upwards, black; wing 8*5; 

 tail 3 ; tarsus 3 "62 ; irides red brown ; legs pale bluish grey. 



Hab. — Throughout India during winter; S.-E. Europe, Lower Egypt, 

 Senegal and Persia. Common in Sind, in large flocks inland, on almost 

 every large sheet of water, especially on the IMunchur Lake and along the 

 edges of tanks, &c. Occasionally affects the sea coast and Kurrachee harbour, 

 but by preference the inland waters. Breeds probably in Persia. In Upper 

 India the Avocet is less common ; in Kutch, Jodhpore and N. Guzerat 

 rather rare. 



Gen. Himantopus.— -5?/xj. 



Bill long and straight ; toes webbed only at the base ; nostrils linear ; hind 

 toe wanting. 



186. HimantopuS Candidus {Liftn.), Bonnat. Tail. Encyl. et 

 Meth. Orn. i, p. 24 ; Jcrd., B. Ind. ii p. 704; Hume, Ibis, 1870, p. 146 ; 

 Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 587, pi. ; Hume and Dav., Str. F. vi. p. 464 ; viii. 

 p. 113; Legge, B. Cejdon p. gig. Himantopus intermedins, Hume, Nes/s 

 and Eggs Ind. B. p. 589; Murray, Avif. Brit. Ind. ii. p. 632, No. 131 7. 

 Charadrius himantopus, Linn., Syst. Nat. i, p. 255. — The Stilt. 



In winter plumage, the forehead, lores, chin, throat, entire lower parts, lower 

 back and rump white ; crown of the head dusky or dark ash ; neck behind 

 ashy grey, the feathers tipped with white ; upper back and scapulars brown ; 

 the feathers with pale tippings ; primaries dark brown, the inner ones tipped 

 white; secondaries also with white tips; central tail feathers very pale grey, the 

 rest white. In the breeding plumage the primaries, secondaries, scapulars, 

 tertiaries and upper back are rich glossy black, with greenish reflections ; the 

 crown of the head dusky or dark brown, spreading over and below the eyes. 



Length. — 15 to 16 inches; wing 8*5 to 9 ; tail 3; bill black, reddish at the 

 base, 275 inches in length ; tarsi 4*5 to 5*5 ; irides blood red ; legs and feet 

 lake red. 



Hab. — India generally, also Burmah and Ceylon, in large flocks during 

 winter, frequenting margins of lakes and ponds, also banks of rivers. Breeds 

 in Sind during June in the Narra Districts. Eggs 2 — 4 in number, of a pale 

 blue colour, spotted and speckled with dark brown and olive green. Incuba- 

 tion 18 to 20 days. The young are said to leave the nest immediately 

 they are hatched, and hide themselves among very scanty cover. Found also 

 in Beloochistan, Afghanistan, Persia, and probably IMesopotamia. 



Family, PARRID^. 



Bill long, one and a half or twice the length of the head ; nostrils lateral ; 

 wing spurred or with a tubercle ; tarsi long ; toes long with long claws. 



