52 



LONG-LEGGED AVOSET. 



he bent considerably without danger of breaking. This thinness of 

 the leg enables the bird to wade with expedition, and without fa- 

 tigue. 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; irides 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 color. 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 buck shot. 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 upward curvature of the bill, tho not quite so great, 

 is also the same as in the other, being rounded above, and taper- 

 ing to a delicate point in the same manner. In short, a slight 

 comparison 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. 



