TIIE STILT AND LONGSHANK. 
133 
runs, and limps, and drops one wing occasionally, as if it 
were broken ; but in her evolutions upon the wing, she 
does not give those twitches in turning which are so striking, 
and, as formerly mentioned, sometimes do strike, in the 
Lapwing. The eggs are olive brown spotted with black ; 
and, as is the case with most of the grallce, they are large in 
proportion to the size of the bird.' 
The Black-winged Stiltshank {Himantopus melanop- 
terus)^ also called the Stilt, the Longshank, or Longlegs, and 
Long-legged Plover. 
The Green-legged Longshank {Glottis chloropus)^ also 
called the Greenshank, Greenshank Snipe, Greater Plover, 
or Green-legged Horseman. 
We have here representatives of two genera of the 
Tattler family, the first being Himantopus, or Stiltshank; 
and the last Glottis, or Longshank, a distinction without a 
difference, as it would seem to the uninitiated : but here is 
the difference in the words of Macgillivray : — ^ If one could 
take a Stiltshank, shorten its wings considerably, and 
diminish the length of its preposterous looking legs, leaving 
them still long enough to exceed those of the Tattlers, and 
add a very small hind toe, he would have a Longshank. 
Thus it would seem to be as if one were a long-legged 
man with a spur on his heels, and the other the same upon 
stilts, and without the spur.' 
Let us speak first then of this bird upon the stilts, a long- 
necked slender-billed fellow, dressed in a suit of black, 
white, and grey, with a delicate rose flush on the breast, 
and vermilion feet, and having, too, a greenish gloss on the 
wings, to heighten his. beauty. So slight and apparently 
fragile is the whole frame of this bird, that we could ima- 
gine a puff of wind might blow it away, and dash it to 
pieces against the rocks; but no, it goes stalking about along 
the shores of the lakes, and among the marshes ; or takes 
long .flights over sea and land, with its red legs trailing 
behind it like streamers, in perfect safety. Its flight is 
described as vigorous and regular ; in Britain it is a rare 
occasional visitant, and we know but little of its habits. 
It is said to be plentiful in many parts of Asia, and the 
