~S II IMAM TOI'l IS. 



naked p:irt ol the tlu,"h measured throe inches and ;i 



hall, and the Icj^s lour inches and a half. Hence we 

 ina\ -airly assert, that these birds exhibit, weight for 

 inches, incomparably the peatest length ol lej.-s of 

 any known bird. 'The flamingo, for instance, is one 

 of the most lon---lc;;?;ed birds, and yet it bear; no 

 manner of proportion to the hiinantopns ; for a cock 

 flamingo weighs, at an average, about four pounds 

 avoirdupois; and his le^s and thii-hs measure usualK 

 about twenty inches. lint four pounds are fifteen 

 times and a fraction more than lour ounces and one 

 (piarter; and if four ounces and a piarter have eiht 

 inches of le^'s, four pounds must have one hundred 

 and twenty inches and a fraction of lefs, vi/. some 

 what more than ten feet, such a monstrous propor- 

 tion as the world never saw ! If you should try the 

 experiment in still larj-vr birds, the disparity would 

 still increase. It must hi- matter of ^reat curiosity 

 to see the stilt-plover move ; to observe how it can 

 wield such a leni'th of lexer with such feeble muscles 

 as the thighs seem to be furnished with. At best, 

 one should expect it to be but a bad walker: but 

 what adds to the wonder is, that it has no back toe. 

 Now, without that steady prop to support its steps, 

 it must be liable, in speculation, to perpetual vacilla- 

 tions, and seldom able to preserve the true centre of 

 gravity. 



The old name of /ihna/ifo/Jiis is taken from IMmy ; 

 and, by an awkward metaphor, implies that the le^'s 

 arc as slender and pliant as if cut, out of a thonv of 

 leather. Neither \Villu;;hby nor Kay, in all their 

 curious researches, either at home or abroad, e\er 

 saw this bird. Mr. IVnnant never met with it in all 

 Great Britain, but observed it often in t he cabinet* 

 of the curious at Paris. I lassehpiist says, that it 

 ;;tes to K;;ypt in the autumn ; and a most 

 accurate observer of nature lias a-med me, that 



