348 LONG-LEGGED AVOSET. 



deep black, richly glossed with green ; legs and naked thighs, 

 a fine pale carmine ; the latter measures three, the former four 

 inches and a half in length, exceedingly thin, and so flexible 

 that they may be bent considerably without danger of break- 

 ing. This thinness of the leg enables the bird to wade with 

 expedition, and without fatigue. Feet, three-toed, the outer 

 toe connected to the middle one by a broad membrane ; wings, 

 long, extending two inches beyond the tail, and sharp pointed ; 

 hides, a bright rich scarlet ; pupil, black. In some the white 

 from the breast extends quite round the neck, separating the 

 black of the hind neck from that of the body ; claws, blackish 

 horn. 



The female is about half an inch shorter, and differs in 

 having the plumage of the upper back and scapulars, and also 

 the tertials, of a deep brown colour. The stomach or gizzard 

 was extremely muscular, and contained fragments of small 

 snail-shells, winged bugs, and a slimy matter, supposed to be 

 the remains of some aquatic worms. In one of these females 

 I counted upwards of one hundred and fifty eggs, some of 

 them as large as buckshot. The singular form of the legs 

 and feet, with the exception of the hind toe and one membrane 

 of the foot, is exactly like those of the avoset. The upper 

 curvature of the bill, though not quite so great, is also the 

 same as in the other, being rounded above, and tapering to a 

 delicate point in the same manner. In short, a slight com- 

 parison of the two is sufficient to satisfy the most scrupulous 

 observer that Nature has classed these two birds together ; and 

 so believing, we shall not separate them. 



