THE BLACK-WINGED STILT. 379 



Family SCOLOPACID^E. 



Genus HIMANTOPUS, Briss. 



725. HIMANTOPUS CANDIDUS. 

 THE BLACK- WINGED STILT. 



Charadrius himantopus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 25-5. Himantopus candidus, 

 Bonnat. Tabl. Encycl. et Meth., Orn. i. p. 24 ; Jerd. B. Ind. ii. p. 704 ; Hume, 

 Ibis, 1870, p. 146 ; David et Oust. Ois. Chine, p. 462 ; Dresser, Birds Eur. vii. 

 p. 587, pi.; Hume fy Dnv. S. F. vi. p. 464; Hume, S. F. viii. p. 113; Legge, 

 Birds Ceylon, p. 919; Gates, S. F. x. p. 241. Himantopus intermedius, 

 El. Cat. Birds Mus. As. Soc. p. 265 ; Hume, Nests and Eygs, p. 589 ; id. S. F. 

 i. p. 248, iii. p. 183. Himantopus autumnalis, apud Bl. B. Burm. p. 154. 



Description. Male and female. Crown, nape and ear-coverts smoky 

 brown ; back and sides of the neck and the upper back grey ; middle of 

 the back and the w r hole of the wings glossy black, tinged with metallic 

 green ; upper tail-coverts and tail grey ; forehead and remainder of the 

 plumage pure white ; under surface of wing black. 



Iris red ; bill and claws black ; legs lake-red. In the immature bird 

 the legs are pale pink and the bill blackish brown. 



Length 15 inches, tail 3'4, wing 10, tarsus 4*9, bill from gape 2'8. The 

 female is rather smaller. 



The plumage of this species varies a good deal, and the causes of the 

 variations do not appear to be well understood. I have described above 

 the birds usually met with in Burmah in the winter months. According 

 to Major Legge, and in my experience also, the sexes are alike. Ac- 

 cording to Mr. Dresser the sexes differ, the male having the hind crown, 

 nape and hind neck black intermixed with white, the wings and back 

 black the female having the hind crown and nape blackish grey, the back, 

 scapulars and inner secondaries dull blackish brown. I am of opinion, 

 however, that the sexes are alike, and that the variations are due to age 

 and season. 



The Black-winged Stilt appears to be generally distributed over Pegu 

 and Arrakan, and Capt. Wardlaw Ramsay observed it on the Karin hills 

 east of Tonghoo. In Tenasserim it is confined to the flat portions of the 

 northern half of the Division. 



It occurs throughout the southern half of Asia, the whole of Africa and 

 a considerable portion of Europe, being migratory in some parts, resident 

 in others. 



This peculiar-looking bird is nowhere very abundant in Burmah, visiting 



