BIRDS OF NEW YORK 295 



can Museum, and the Collection of the Long Island Historical Society 

 [sec Dutcher, Auk, lo: 272]. 



The bird is mosth' an inhabitant of interior and western America 

 from Texas to Saskatchewan, wintering from the gulf coast southward. 



FamUy HIM ANTOF'ODIDAE 



Stilts 



Body rather small, but the legs excessive!)- lengthy; hind toe wanting; 

 front toes semipalmate; bill slender, nearly straight, slighth' curved 

 uj^iward, tapering, acvite; wings long and pointed; ]ikimage l:)lackish and 

 white. 



There are seven or eight species of Stilts, inhabiting warm or temperate 

 regions, but onl)- one reaches the United States. 



Coues says, "on the ground whether walking or wading, the bird 

 moves gracefully, with measured steps; the long legs are n";t:ch bent at 

 each step (onh' at the joint, however), and planted firml\-, perfecth^ straight; 

 except under certain circumstances, as those Wilson narrates, there is 

 nothing vacillating, feeble or unsteady, either in the attitudes or the move- 

 ments of the birds. When feeding, the legs are bent backward with an acute 

 angle at the heel joint to bring the body low^er; the latter is tilted forward 

 and downward over the center of equilibrium, where the feet rest, and 

 the long neck and bill reach the rest of the distance to the ground." 



Himantopus mexicanus (Mulkr) 



Black-necked Stilt 



C h a r a d r i u s mexicanus Miiller. Syst. Nat. Sup. i 776. p. 117 

 Himantopus n i g r i t- o 1 1 i s DcKay. Zool. N. Y. pt 2, p. 265, fig. 200 

 Himantopus mexicanus A. O. U. Check List. Ed. 2. 1895. **^0- 226 



himdn'topus, Gr. lixavToirov; , strap-legged, crook-shanked; mexica'nus, 



Lat., .Mexican 



Description. Adult male: Black and white, the back of head and 

 neck, upper back, and wings, black; tail gray; front of head and neck, 

 lower back, rump, under parts, a spot before the eye, and another behind 



