LONG-LEGGED PLOVER. 79 



even, or very slightly forked, and of a dingy white ; the 

 vent-feathers reach to the tip of the tail below; line 

 before the eye, auriculars, back part of the neck, 

 scapulars, and whole wings, deep black, richly glossed 

 with green ; legs and naked thighs, a fine pale carmine ; 

 the latter measures three, the former four inches and a 

 half in length, exceedingly thin, and so flexible that 

 they may be bent considerably without danger of 

 breaking. This thinness of the leg enables the bird to 

 wade with expedition, and without fatigue. Feet, three- 

 toed, the outer toe connected to the middle one by a 

 broad membrane; wings, long, extending two inches 

 beyond the tail, aud 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 having 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 con- 

 tained fragments of small snail shells, winged bugs, and 

 a slimy matter, supposed to be the remains of some 

 aquatic worms. In one of these females I counted 

 upwards of one hundred aud 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 exactly like those of the 

 avoset. The upper 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 sufficient to satisfy the most scrupulous observer 

 that nature has classed these two birds together. 



