( 38 ) 



ORD. I. GEN. VII. PLOVER. 



SPE. II. LONGLEGGED PLOVER. 



PL 183. 



Charadrius himantopus. Lin.Syft. I. p. 255. 

 L'Echafle. BriJ. Orn. V. p. 33. 



This lingular bird has the greateft length of legs, in refpeft to its bulk, of 

 any known Britifh fpecies : it meafures, from the point of the bill to the end of 

 the tail, thirteen inches, to the end of the claws, eighteen ; between the points 

 of the wings extended, which when clofed reach beyond the end of the tail, 

 two feet fix inches ■, and weighs about four or five ounces. The bill is black : 

 the eyes, red : the forehead, round the eye, and all the under parts, white : the 

 crown of the head, the back, and wings, gloffy black : the hind part of the 

 head, in fome marked with dufky fpots, in others black : rump, white : tail, 

 greyifh white : the outer feathers, pure white : legs, deep red. 



One of thefe birds, in the pofieffion of Mr. White of Fleet Street, is wholly 

 white, except the back as far as the rump, and the wings, which are black. 

 This probably differs from the other in fex merely, for the fpecies has not been 

 met with fufficiently often to afcertain the fad. 



This bird cannot be faid to be frequent in England, though it has been four 

 or five times noticed j and of the laft defcribed five were (hot at one time on 

 the borders of a lake in Hampfhire. 



