THfi LONG-LEGGED PLOVER. 16$ 



Uncommon length of its legs. 



had we seen such proportions on a Chinese or 

 Japan screen, we should have made large allow- 

 ance for ihefayicy of the draughtsman. 



" These birds are of the plover family* and 

 might with propriety be called the stilt: plovers; \ 



My specimen, when drawn and stuffed with pep- 

 per, Weighed only four ounces and a quarter, 

 though the naked part of the thigh measured 

 three inches and a half. Hence we may safely 

 assert, that these birds exhibit weight for inches, 

 and have incomparably the greatest length of legs 

 of any known bird. The Flamingo, for instance, 

 is one of the most long-legged birds, and yet it 

 bears no manner of proportion to the himanto~ 

 pus: for acock flamingo weighs,, at an average, 

 about four hundred pounds avoirdupois; and 

 his legs and thighs measure usually about twenty 

 laches. But four pounds are fifteen times and a 

 fraction more than four ounces and a quarter; and 

 if four ounces and a quarter have eight inches of 

 legs, four pounds must have one hundred and 

 twenty inches and a fraction of legs, or some- 

 what more than ten feet; such a monstrous pro- 

 portion as the world never saw !" Here the Rev. 

 Mr. BingLey remarks, that Mr. White appears 

 to have calculated the weights of these birds un- 

 fairly ; the plover after it was stuffed, and the 

 flamingo from a perfect bird ; which, in the com- 

 parison of weights, will make a difference ex- 

 tremely material. 



" I|7' continues Mr. White, " w* try the ex* 

 x 3 



