76 BIRDS OP ILLINOIS. 



Himantopus mexicanus (Miill.) 



BLACK-NECKED STILT. 



Popular synonyms. Lawyer; Long-shanks; Pink-stoekingg. 



Charadrius mexicanus Muller, S. N. Suppl. 177<i, 117. 

 Himantopus mexicanus Obd, ed. Wilson, vii, 1824, 52.— Bonap. Comp. List. \'>^?A. '»!.— 

 RiDGW. Norn. N. Am. B. 1881. No. 567; Man. W. Am. B. 1887. 147.— Coues. 2d Check 

 List, 1S82. No. COl.— B. B. & R. Water B. N. Am. i, 1884, 345.— A. O. U. Check List, 

 1886, No. 22r,. 

 Becurvirostra himantopus WiLS. Am. Orn. vii, 1813, 48, pi. 58, flg. 2. 



Himantopus nigricolUs Vieill. 1817.— Nutt. Man. ii, 1834, 8.— AuD. Orn. Biog. iv. 1838, 



247, pi. 328; Synop. 1839, 252; Birds Am. vi, 184.3, 31, pi. 354.— Baird, Birds N. Am. 



1851,704; Cat. N. Am. B. 1850, No. 518.-CouES, Key, 1872, 217; Check List. 1871, No. 



408; Birds N.W. 1874, 462. 



Hab. The whole of temperate North America, Middle America, and northern South 



America, south to Peru and Brazil; Galapagos; West Indies in general, and Bermudas; 



north, on the Atlantic coast, to Maine. More generally distributed and more abundant in 



the Western than in the Eastern Province. 



Sp. Char. Adult male: Forehead, a large postocular spot, lores, entire lower part>:, 

 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 pink in hfe, yellowish in the 

 dried skin. A duU 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 deep buff or whitish, the 

 black of the head and v.ape finely mottled with the same. Downy young: Above light ful- 

 <^ous-grayish, mottled with dupky.the back and rump relieved by several large black 

 blotches. Head, neck, and lower parts fulvous-whitish, the crown, occiput, and nape gi-ay- 

 ish, the crown with a mesial black streak, the occiput with coarse spots of the same. 



Total length, about 14-15.50 inches; extent, 27-30; wing, 8.50-9.00; culmen, about 2.50; tar- 

 sus, 4. 00; middle toe, 1.37. Bill deep black; iris rosy carmine; legs and feet fine rose-pink 

 or delicate pale lake-red (in life). 



Adult specimens in high breeding plumage sometimes have the 

 white of the breast, etc., tinged with soft creamy pink. 



While on record only as a summer visitant to Illinois, the 

 Stilt undoubtedly breeds in some portion of the State. Mr. Nel- 

 son says that it is "an exceedingly rare visitant" to Cook county, 

 and mentions the fact that there is in the collection of the Illi- 

 nois Natural History Society, at Normal, a fine specimen taken 

 in McLean County. He also says that Dr. P. R. Hoy, of Racine, 

 Wisconsin, records the occurrence of a small flock near that place 

 in April, 1847. 



