246 GRALLATORES. HIMANTOPUS. 



Young. In the young state previous to the moult, there is no black 

 about the head. Forehead and eyebrow white. Front 

 of the neck the same. Crown of the head, back part of 

 the neck, and all the upper parts of the body, light ash- 

 brown. Patch on each side of the chest light hair- 

 brown. Under parts white. Bill and legs black. 



GENUS HIMANTOPUS, BRISS. STILT. 



GENERIC CHARACTERS. 



BILL longer than the head, slender, cylindrical, drawn to 

 a fine point, slightly inflected towards the middle. Mandi- 

 bles with a lateral groove, extending through one-half of 

 their length ; tomia of both mandibles anterior to the fur- 

 row, intracted ; tip of the upper mandible slightly curving 

 over that of the under one. Nostrils lateral, long, and 

 linear. 



Wings long, with the first quill-feather much longer than 

 the rest. 



Legs very long and slender. Tibiae naked for the great- 

 est part of their length above the tarsal joint. Tarsi thin 

 and laterally compressed, reticulated. Feet three-toed, all 

 the toes directed forwards ; the outer toe united to the mid- 

 dle one by a large membrane ; the inner toe by a much 

 smaller membrane. Claws short, slightly curved, and hav- 

 ing the inner edges expanded. 



Plumage soft, close, and adpressed. 



The members of this genus, remarkable for the dispropor- 

 tionate length and the slenderness of their legs, are not nu- 

 merous, but possess a very wide geographical range, some one 

 of the species being found in every quarter of tne globe. By 

 the earlier authors, when only one species was recognised, it 

 was placed amongst the typical Plovers. It was very pro- 



