*>2 CHARADRIID^!. 



and blotched with dark brown or black, with some pale purple 

 underlying spots. In two examples the markings are somewhat 

 large and coarse ; in the others they are small and delicate. Two 

 specimens measure respectively: 1*4 by '93; 1'32 by -97. 



4. Victoria, Australia. Gould Coll. 



Sub-Family HIMANTOPODIN^E. 



Genus HIMANTOPUS, Briss. 

 i Himantopus himantopus (Linn.}. 



Himantopus vulgaris, Thien. Fortpftanz. ges. Vog. tab. Ixiii. fig. 5, a-c; 



tab. ic. tig. 21 a, b (1845-54). 

 Himantopus melanopterus, Baedeker, J.f. 0. 1856, p. 34, taf. ii. fig. 17 ; 



Hewitson, Eggs of Brit. Birds, ii. p. 341, pi. xcii. tig. i (1856) ; 



Salvin, Ibis, 1859, p. 360; Tristram, Ibis, 1860, p. 79 ; Saunders, 



Ibis, 1871, p. 387 ; Seebohm, Brit. Birds, iii. p. 79, pi. 24 (1885) ; id. 



Geogr. Distr. Charadriidce, p. 277 (1887) ; id. Eggs of Brit. Birds, 



p. 129, pi. 38. tigs. 4, 6 (1896). 

 Himantopus Candidas, Baedeker, Eier Eur. Vog. tab. 37. fig. 5 (1855- 



63) ; Dresser, Birds Eur. vii. p. 587 (1877); Legge, Birds Ceylon,^. 919 



(1880) ; Gates ed. Hume, Nests # Eggs Ind. Birds, iii. p. 353 (1890) ; 



Barnes, Journ. Bomb. Nat. Hist. Soc. vi. p. 132, pi. . fig. 898 



(1891) ; Poynting, Eggs of Brit. Birds, p. 85, pi. 20 (1895-96). 

 Himantopus himantopus, Sharpe, Cat. Birds B. M. xxiv. p. 310 (1896) ; 



id. Hand-l. i. p. 156 (1899;. 



The eggs of the Common Stilt are pyriform or of a pointed oval 

 shape. Many have a small amount of gloss, others entirely want it. 

 The ground is of various shades of buff, olive-buff, and greenish 

 stone-colour, but some specimens are so pale as to be almost cream- 

 colour. The markings are dark brown, umber-brown, or black, and 

 consist of well-defined spots, streaks, and blotches, scattered very 

 evenly over the whole shell. On some examples these markings 

 are larger and more frequent at the large end, but they seldom form 

 a cap. The underlying markings are pale purple. The eggs 

 measure from 1-5 to 1-8 in length, and from 1*1 to 1*32 in breadth. 



1. Goto del Key, Seville, Spain (H. Seebohm Coll. 



Saunders} . 



2. Coto del Key, 2nd May (H. S.}. Seebohm Coll. 

 4. Coto del Key, 2nd May (H. S.). Seebohm Coll. 



3. Coto del Key, 4th May (H. S.). Seebohm Coll. 



4. Coto del Key, 4th May (H. S.). Seebohm Coll. 

 1. San Lucar, Spain (H. S. : Har- Seebohm Coll. 



ffitt Coll.). 

 1. Lake Tulza, Dobrudscha, 7th Seebohm Coll. 



June (H. Seebohiri). 



4. Lake Tulza, 7th June (H. S.). Seebohm Coll. 



8. Lake Tulza, 7th June (H. S. : Seebomn Coll. 



four clutches of two eggs each). 

 A. Sarepta, S.E. Russia (Stader : Seebohm Coll. 



Har ffitt Coll.). 



