gI4 STILT—STINK-BIRD 
Nature in producing an animal with such ‘enormous defects,’— 
its long legs in particular, he supposed, scarcely allowing it to reach 
the ground with its bill. But he failed to notice the flexibility of 
its proportionately long neck, and admitted that he was ill-informed 
as to its habits. No doubt, if he had enjoyed even so slight an 
opportunity as occurred to a chance observer (Jbis, 1859, p. 397), 
he would have allowed that its structure and ways were in complete 
conformity, for the bird obtains its food by wading in shallow water 
and seizing the insects that fly over or float upon its surface or the 
small crustaceans that swim beneath, for which purpose its slender 
extremities are, as might be expected, admirably adapted. Widely 
spread over Asia, North Africa and Southern Europe, the Stilt has 
many times visited Britain—though always as a straggler, for it is 
not known to breed to the northward of the Danube valley,—and 
its occurrence in Scotland (near Dumfries) was noticed by Sibbald 
(Scot. Illustr. Il. iii. p. 18) so long ago as 1684. It chiefly resorts 
to pools or lakes with a margin of mud, on which it constructs a 
slight nest, banked round or just raised above the level so as to 
keep its eggs dry (Jbis, 1859, p. 360); but sometimes they are laid 
in a tuft of grass. They are four in number, closely resembling 
those of the Avoset, and, except in size, the Oyster-catcher. The 
bird has the head, neck and lower parts white, the back and wings 
glossy black, the irides red and the bare part of the legs pink. In 
America the genus has two representatives, one closely resembling 
that just described, but rather smaller and with a black crown 
and nape. This is H. mexicanus or nigricollis,? and occurs from New 
England to the middle of South America, beyond which it is re- 
placed by ZH. brasiliensis, which has the crown white. The Sandwich 
Islands appear to be the home of a species peculiar to them, H. 
knudsent. The Stilt inhabiting India is now recognized to be #. 
candidus, but Australia possesses a distinct species, H. leucocephalus 
or nove-hollandix, which also occurs in New Zealand, though that 
country has in addition a species peculiar to it, H. nove-zelandix or 
melas, differing from all the rest by assuming in the breeding-season 
wholly black plumage, to say nothing of a possible third species, the 
H. albicollis of Sir W. Buller. Australia, however, presents another 
form, which is the type of the genus Cladorhynchus, and differs from 
Himantopus both in its style of plumage (the male having a broad 
bay pectoral belt), in its shorter tarsi and in having the toes 
(though, as in the Stilts’ feet, three in number on each foot) 
webbed as in the Avosets. 
STINK-BIRD, a name given to the Hoacrzrn (p. 421): STINK- 
POT, STINKER, sailors’ names for some of the PETRELS (p. 710). 
1 Sibbald was unfortunate in his draughtsman, who gave the bird a hind-toe. 
2 This species was made known to Ray by Sloane, who met with it in 
Jamaica, where in his day it was called ‘‘ Longlegs.” 
