154 HISTORY OF THE 



drab to buff, rather uniformly spotted or blotched with varying 

 shades of light to dark brown; in form, obovate. A set of four 

 eggs, taken July 5th, 1886, from a nest on an alkali marsh near 

 Fort Garland, Colorado, are: 2.00x1.40, 1.89x1.39, 1.94x1.37, 

 1.97x1.36. 



GENUS HIMANTOPUS BKISSON. 



"Hind toe wanting; outer and middle toes connected at the base by a short 

 web; the inner toe completely separated from the middle; bill subulate, deeper 

 than broad, slightly upturned toward the end; legs excessively lengthened, the 

 bare part of the tibia about half as long as the tarsus, which greatly exceeds the 

 bill in length, the latter being nearly twice the length of the middle toe." 



Himantopus mexicanus (MULL.). 



BLACK-NECKED STILT. 

 PLATE X. 



Summer resident in the western part of the State; rare. Arrive 

 about the middle of May; begin laying by the first of June. 



B. 518. R. 567. C. 601. G. , 72. U. 226. 



HABITAT. Temperate North America, from New Brunswick, 

 Maine, Minnesota and Oregon, southward; south in winter to 

 Peru, Brazil and West Indies. Rare in the middle and eastern 

 provinces, except Florida, also along the Pacific coast; breed- 

 ing in suitable localities, and in abundance in western Texas, 

 southern Colorado, Utah, eastern California and southeastern 

 Oregon. 



SP. CHAR. "Adult male: Forehead, a large postocular spot, lores, entire 

 lower parts, rump and upper tail coverts white; remainder of the head, whole 

 nape, back, scapulars and wings (both surfaces) glossy black, with a greenish 

 blue reflection; tail pale grayish; bill black; iris crimson; legs and feet lake 

 red or beautiful rose pink in life, yellowish in the dried skin. Adult female: 

 Similar to the male, but back and scapulars brownish slate and the black of 

 other portions duller. Young, first plumage: Similar to the adult female, but 

 the feathers of the back, the scapulars and tertials bordered with buff or dull 

 whitish, the black of the head and nape finely mottled with the same. Downy 

 young: Above, light fulvous gray, mottled with dusky, the back and rump re- 

 lieved by several large black blotches; head, neck and lower parts fulvous 

 whitish; the crown, occiput and nape grayish, the crown with a mesial black 

 streak, the occiput with coarse spots of the same; bill deep black; iris rosy car- 

 mine; legs and feet fine rose pink or delicate pale lake red (in life). 



"Adult specimens in high breeding plumage sometimes have the white of 

 breast, etc., tinged with soft, creamy pink." 



