22% LONG-LEGGED AVOSET. 



a broad membrane; wings long, extending two inches beyond 

 the tail, and sharp pointed; irides a bright rich scarlet; pupil 

 black. In some, the white from the breast extends quite round 

 the neck, separating the black of the hind neck from that of 

 the body; claws blackish horn. 



The female is about half an inch shorter, and differs in hav- 

 ing the plumage of the upper back and scapulars, and also the 

 tertials, of a deep brown colour. The stomach, or gizzard, was 

 extremely muscular, and contained fragments of small snail 

 shells, winged bugs, and a slimy matter, supposed to be the re- 

 mains of some aquatic worms. In one of these females I counted 

 upwards of one hundred and fifty eggs, some of them as large 

 as buck-shot. The singular form of the legs and feet, with the 

 exception of the hind toe and one membrane of the foot, is ex- 

 actly like those of the Avoset. The upward curvature of the 

 bill, though not quite so great, is also the same as in the other, 

 being rounded above, and tapering to a delicate point in the 

 same manner. In short, a slight comparison of the two is suffi- 

 cient to satisfy the most scrupulous observer, that nature has 

 classed these two birds together; and so believing, we shall not 

 separate them. 



