Genus HIMANTOPUS or STILTS. 



Type HIMANTOPUS MELANOPTERUS. 



HimantopUS of Brisson (1760). — The birds comprising the 

 present genus are characterised by having a long, slender, nearly 

 straight bill, only slightly webbed feet, no hind toe, and a black 

 mantle. The wings are long and pointed, the first primary being 

 the longest ; the tail is rounded. The tarsus is long, and finely 

 reticulated ; a great portion of the tibia devoid of feathers. The 

 bill is long, slightly recurved at the point ; nostrils lateral, linear, 

 and elongated. 



This genus is composed of seven species and subspecies, 

 locally distributed in the Australian, Neotropical, Ethiopian, 

 southern Palsearctic and Nearctic, and Oriental regions. One 

 species is an accidental visitor to the British Islands. 



The Stilts are dwellers in salt marshes, on low-lying coasts, 

 and on the banks of lakes. Their flight is rapid, graceful, 

 and sustained, and on the ground they walk and run with 

 elegant ease. Their notes are clear and loud. They subsist 

 principally on insects and small univalves. They make scanty 

 nests near the water on the ground, and their eggs are usually 

 four in number, and spotted. They are monogamous, and at all 

 times of the year are more or less gregarious, usually breeding in 

 colonies. 



