492 LONG-LEGGED AVOSET. 
on the bare marsh, they drop their wings, stand with their legs half 
bent, and trembling, as if unable to sustain the burden of their bodies. 
In this ridiculous posture they will sometimes stand for several minutes, 
uttering a curring sound, while, from the corresponding quiverings of 
their wings and long legs. they seem to balance themselves with great 
difficulty. This singular maneuvre is, no doubt, intended to induce a 
belief that they may be easily caught, and so turn the attention of the 
person, from the pursuit of their nests and young, to themselves. The 
Red-necked Avoset, whom we have introduced in the present volume, 
practises the very same deception, in the same ludicrous manner, and 
both alight indiscriminately on the ground or in the water. Both will 
also occasionally swim for a few feet, when they chance, in wading, 
to lose their depth, as Ihave had several times an opportunity of 
observing. 
The name by which this bird is known on the sea-coast is the Stilt, 
or Tilt, or Long-Shanks They are but sparingly dispersed over the 
marshes, having, as has been already observed, their particular favorite 
spots, while in large, intermediate tracts there are few ornone to be 
found. They occasionally visit the shore, wading about in the water 
and in the mud, in search of food, which they scoop up very dexter- 
ously with their delicately-formed bills. On being wounded while in 
the water, they attempt to escape by diving, at which they are by no 
means expert. In autumn, their flesh is tender and well tasted. They 
seldom raise more than one brood in the season, and depart for the 
south early in September. As they are well known in Jamaica, it is 
probable some of them may winter in that and other of the West India 
islands. 
Mr. Pennant observes, that this bird is not a native of northern Eu- 
rope; and there have been but few instances where it has been seen 
in Great Britain. It is common, says Latham, in Egypt, being found 
there in the marshes in October. It is likewise plentiful about the 
salt lakes, and is often seen on the shores of the Caspian Sea, as well 
as by the rivers which empty themselves into it, and in the southern 
deserts of Independent Tartary. Thesame author adds, on the author- 
ity of Ray, that it is known at Madras, in the East Indies. 
All the figures and descriptions which I have seen of this curious 
bird, represent the bill as straight, and of almost an equal thickness 
throughout, but I have never found it so in any of the numerous 
specimens I have myself shot and examined. Many of these accounts, 
as well as figures, have been taken from dried and stuffed skins, which 
give but an imperfect and often erroneous idea of the true outlines of 
nature. The dimensions, colors, and markings, of a very beautiful 
specimen, newly shot, were as follows: — 
Length, from the point of the bill to the end of the tail, fourteen 
inches, to the tips of the wings, sixteen; extent, twenty-eight inches ; 
bill, three inches long, slightly curved upwards, tapering to a fine point, 
the upper mandible rounded above, the whole of a deep black color; 
nostrils, an oblong slit, pervious ; tongue, short, pointed ; forehead, spot 
behind the eye, lower eyelid, sides of the neck, and whole lower parts, 
pure white; back, rump, and tail-coverts, also white, but so concealed 
by the scapulars as to appear black ; tail, even, or very slightly forked, 
and of a dingy white; the vent-feathers reach to the tip of the tail 
