LONG-LEGGED AVOSET. 347 



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 Europe, 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. The same author adds, on 

 the authority of Kay, 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, colours, 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 colour ; 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 below ; line before the eye, auri- 

 culars, back part of the neck, scapulars, and whole wings, 



