34 8 The Natural History of Se I borne 



he suffered the sixth to remain unmolested. One of these 

 specimens I procured, and found the length of the legs to be 

 so extraordinary, that, at first sight, one might have supposed 

 the shanks had been fastened on to impose on the credulity 

 of the beholder : they were legs in caricatiira ; and had we 

 seen such proportions on a Chinese or Japan screen we should 

 have made large allowances for the fancy of the draughtsman. 

 These birds are of the plover family, and might with propriety 

 be called the stilt-plovers. Brisson, under that idea, gives 

 them the apposite name of tfahasse. My specimen, when 

 drawn and stuffed with pepper, weighed only four ounces and 

 a quarter, though the naked part of the thigh measured three 

 inches and a half, and the legs four inches and a half. Hence 

 we may safely assert that these birds exhibit, weight for inches, 

 incomparably the greatest length of legs of any known bird. 

 The flamingo, for instance, is one of the most long-legged birds, 

 and yet it bears no manner of proportion to the himantopus; 

 for a cock flamingo weighs, at an average, about four pounds 

 avoirdupois; and his legs and thighs measure usually about 

 twenty inches. But four pounds are fifteen times and a 

 fraction more than four ounces, and one quarter ; and if four 

 ounces and a quarter have eight inches of legs, four pounds 

 must have one hundred and twenty inches and a fraction of 

 legs ; viz., somewhat more than ten feet ; such a monstrous 

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

 experiment in still larger birds the disparity would still increase. 

 It must be matter of great curiosity to see the stilt-plover 

 move ; to observe how it can wield such a length of lever 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 vacillations, and seldom able to 

 preserve the true centre of gravity. 



The old name of himantopus is taken from Pliny ; and, by 

 an awkward metaphor, implies that the legs are as slender and 

 pliant as if cut out of a thong of leather. Neither Willughby 



