"Length, from L 8 / W inch to l 7 / 10 inch; breadth, iy 4 inch to l l / 6 inch. 



"The immature birds have the top and hack of the head, hack of the neck and shoulders, grey, 

 which parts become black, interspersed with white feathers, before finally reaching the plumage of the 

 adult"— E. P. Ramsay, C.M.Z., S.P.Z.S. London, L867. Pg. 600. 



There is no difference in the plumage, but in matter of size the male is larger. 



Back of neck, back and wings, glossy greenish-black, the rest of the plumage jmre white; hides, 

 pink, margined with red externally ; bill, black ; legs and feet, pink, becoming red after death. 



Total length, la inches. 



In Build's "Birds of New Zealand" we find the following interesting remarks upon the White- 

 headed Stilt : — " Mr. Potts reports that, according to his experience, it usually commences to breed in 

 October. I have found newly hatched young ones as late as the first week in January. It forms a very 

 rude nest, if indeed it deserves that name, and sometimes deposits its eggs on the bare ground, a mere 

 depression in the surface being selected for the purpose. The eggs are usually four in number, decidedly 

 ovoido-conical in form, measuring 1 "7 inch in length by 1'2 inch in breadth, and are of a warm yellowish- 

 brown, handsomely marked and spotted over the entire surface with brownish-black. 



" The young can run nimbly almost immediately after leaving the shell. They often elude captivity by 

 squatting close to the ground, and their colors so exactly harmonise with their surroundings, that it is 

 almost impossible to discover them. One which I had found, after an hour's diligent search, squatting on 

 tin edge of the sand near a sea-pond, remained perfectly motionless till I had taken it up in my hand, 

 when it struggled to escape and uttered a feeble 'Cheep, cheep!' 



" I have observed that the Stilt sometimes feigns lameness to draw intruders away from the 

 vicinity of the nest ; and on the occasion to which I have already referred, when I captured the chick, 

 the old birds became excited, flew round me in circles, and repeatedly darted up to within two feet of 

 my head, uttering all the time a sharp yelping cry." 



Habitats: Derby (N.W.A.), Port Darwin and Port Essington, Gulf of Carpentaria, Rockingham 

 1 lay, Port Denison, Wide Bay District, Richmond and Clarence River Districts, New South Wales, Interior, 

 Victoria and South Australia, West and South-West Australia, South Coast of New Guinea, New Zealand. 



IIIMANTOPUS NOV^EZELANDI.E (Gould). 



NEW ZEALAND STILT, OR BLACK STILT. Genus: Himantopus. 



THIS bird is peculiar to New Zealand, and we are indebted to Buller, in his " Birds of New Zealand," 

 for the following interesting account of it : — " It may be readily distinguished from the preceding 

 species by its darker plumage and by its somewhat shorter legs. Its habits, however, are similar, excepting 

 that it is less gregarious, associating in pairs rather than in flocks; while it appears to prefer the dry 

 shingle-beds to the lagoons and marshy grounds which constitute the favorite breeding resorts of the other 

 species. It is, moreover, a much rarer bird, although it is generally to be found in all the river-courses 

 of the Wellington Province, and further South. ... A few pairs have for several years past 

 frequented the Rotorua Lake ; but it is never seen on Lake Taupo, although the White-headed Stilt is 

 extremely abundant there, single flocks sometimes numbering thirty or forty birds. In Rotomahana also, 

 where the latter bird is very plentiful at all seasons of the year, the Black Stilt is rarely seen. I have 

 met with it more abundantly in the large river courses of the South Island ; and Mr. Potts, who has 

 found it nesting there, writes : — ' It breeds early in the season, seeking the sandy river-beds for that purpose. 



