THE STILT 99 
some of the secondaries and the linings of the 
wings are white. The tail short and squarely 
cut, pearl gray or light ashy. Iris bright red. 
Bill long, slender and generally up-curved, is 
black in color. Its long legs are a dull, pale 
blue, with lighter webs, these sometimes flesh- 
colored. Length from sixteen to twenty in- 
ches; wing spread varying from thirty-two to 
thirty-six inches. 
The wings and tail are often very short for 
this family, thus their measurements may vary 
widely in different specimens, but there is no 
chance for confusing the Avocet with any other 
of our birds, for his cinnamon head, short and 
square-cut tail, to say nothing of the slender, 
long and up-curved bill and the webbing of the 
feet will identify him at once. 
The range of this species is from the Sas- 
katchewan southward through the United States 
to Central America and the West Indies. 
THE STILT. 
(Himantopus mexicanus.) 
Having much the same range as the avocet, 
though perhaps more southerly in its habitat, 
