296 



NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



it, white. Female: Browner above. 

 Iimnature: The brown of the tipper 

 parts marked with whitish. 



Length 13. 5- 15 inches; extent 

 26-28; wings 8.5-9; tail 3; bill 2; 

 tarsus 4.15. 



The Stilt, Longshanks, or Law- 

 yer, is confined mostly to tropical, 

 and interior or western austral Amer- 

 ica, rarely occurring at the present 

 day north of Florida on the Atlantic 

 coast, although it fonnerh* bred as 

 far north as New Jersey and possibly 

 on Long Island. The latest New York 

 specimens were taken 50 or 60 \-ears 

 ago on Long Island, some of which 

 are now in the State Mtiseum, the 

 American Museum, and the collec- 

 tion of the Long Island Historical 



Black-necked stilt. Himantopus mexican us (MuUer). o „ ' i- T) -i-l 4-I ' ' 1 j.1 



Long Island specimen. State Museum. About i nat. size OOClCty. JLSOtn tlllS SpCClCS aUU tUC 



Avocet were of regular occurrence on our coast in 1840 according to 

 Colonel Pike and Giraud [sec also Dutcher, Auk, 10:272]. 



Family SCOLOPACID AE 



Snipe etc. 



The true Snipes have a long bill, in Tringae however scarceh' longer 

 than the head, and its terminal portion sensitive; in Scolopacinae the legs 

 are of moderate length and the tibiae not so extensively bare as in Totaninae ; 

 the latter also have the terminal portion of the l^ill hard, and the otxter 

 and middle toes joined l)y a web at the base, and the plumage mottled; 

 the former are more or less striped. 



Scolopax rusticola Linnaeus 

 European Woodcock 

 This species is larger than the American woodcock and much grayer in general color. The under 

 parts arc finely barred or waved with dusky. Length 13.5 inches; wing S; bill 3.25. 



This palearctic .species has been taken in Rhode Island, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Lawrence 

 records a specimen from the vicinity of New York which was brought in by a gimner on a North 

 river ferryboat. It is only accidental in eastern North America but may yet be taken in New Y'oric. 



