THE STILTS. 189 



Himantopus himantopus^ Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus. xxiv. p. 

 310 (1896). 



(Plate LXXXIII.} f 



Adult Male. General colour above black wiih a greenish 

 gloss ; entire back and rump pure white ; upper tail-coverts 

 pale ashy-grey, the outer feathers with a certain amount of white 

 on the inner web ; wings entirely black, glossed with green ; 

 head and neck all round, upper mantle, and entire under sur- 

 face of body pure white; under wing-coverts black; axillaries 

 white; bill blackish; feet rose-pink; iris deep carmine. Total 

 length, 13 inches; culmen, 2*5; wing, 9^6; tail, 3; tarsus, 4'6$. 



Adult Female. Similar to the male, but having the mantle, 

 scapulars, and inner secondaries brown instead of black. 

 Total length, 13 inches; wing, 9-1. 



Young in First Plumage. Similar to the adult female, and 

 brown on the mantle, scapulars, and inner secondaries, which 

 have sandy-buff margins to the feathers ; the wings are black, 

 but have sandy-buff margins, the quills brown on their 

 inner webs towards the tips, which are broadly fringed or 

 tipped with white; forehead and sides of face white; the 

 crown of the head and nape brown ; the hind-neck ashy-grey ; 

 under surface of body pure white, with a shade of grey on the 

 fore-neck. 



Nestling. Covered with down of an isabelline colour above, 

 varied with rather broad lines of black, with a streak of black 

 down the lower back and rump ; the first feathers being sandy- 

 rufous, barred ; entire under surface of body creamy-white. 



Eange in Great Britain. A rare straggler to our islands, it 

 has been recorded from all the three Kingdoms, but has 

 seldom been noticed on the western side of Great Britain. 

 It has occurred most frequently in the eastern and southern 

 counties, and nearly always in summer. 



Range outside the British Islands. The Stilt breeds throughout 

 the Mediterranean countries in suitable localities, as well as in 

 Hungary, and thence eastwards through the Aralo-Caspian 

 district to Turkestan and as far as the Hoangho Valley. It 

 also nests in North-western India, and breeds in South Africa 

 along with the Avocets. In winter it visits Africa and India 



