356 
The Black-necked Stilt 
the immediate neighborhood, for they were continually flying about and ' 
calling. They had a way of alighting on the mud, where, with bent legs ! 
and drooping wings, their whole bodies would cjuiver as though the ague j 
of the marshes had entered their systems. Standing there and looking h 
over the expanse of shallow ponds and treacherous mud-tlats. with the i|j 
heat beating down with unbelievable force and with mosquitoes and green- 
headed flies struggling among themselves for every available spot where f 
they might sting the soft-skinned intruder, my enthusiasm waned, so we | 
called it a day’s work and returned to the yacht. 1 
Audubon writes that while the females are sitting, the males pay | 
them much attention, ‘‘acting in this respect like those f 
Behavior of the American Avocet, watching the approach of in- | 
truders, giving chase to the Red-winged Starlings, as I 
well as to the Fishing and American Crows, and assailing the truant young '! 
gunner or egger. When there is no appearance of annoyance, they some- [■ 
times roam as far as the sea-beach. When the young are hatched, they r 
leave the nest, and follow their parents through the grass, but on the 
appearance of danger squat and remain motionless.” j 
Stilts are found in summer at various points up the Mississippi ! 
Valley. Barrows regards them as rare in Michigan and Kumlien reports * 
them as rare stragglers in Wisconsin, but many observers record them | 
as common in Minnesota. About the alkaline lakes and ponds of the I 
Great Basin, farther west, they are continually seen, often in company 
with the Avocet. In some of the irrigated valleys of California these 
birds are very plentiful. 
The food of the Stilt consists of small water-snails, insects, worms, 
and young fry of fishes. “I have frequently observed 
Food them,” says Audubon, “running after flies, and 
attempting to seize the smaller Libellulse [dragon- 
flies]. When wounded so as to fall on the water, they are unable to dive, 
but on reaching the shore they run nimbly off and hide themselves.” 
Although this large wader is now very rare in the eastern United 
States it still persists in goodly numbers in the West and South, and under 
the protection that seems assured to it by the new Federal migratory-bird 
law, the species should long survive to give grace and beauty to many 
of the waste places of the continent. 
Most of the individuals of this species leave the United States in 
autumn, but a few remain along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. 
Classification and Distribution 
The Black-necked Stilt belongs to the Order Liinicolcc and the Family Reciir- 
virostridcc. Its scientific name is Hiiuaiifofns incxicanus. It ranged originally over 
all North and Central America and the northern part of South America. It breeds 
from Oregon, Colorado, and the Gulf Coast, southward throughout the West Indies 
and Mexico to Brazil and Peru, and winters from the southwestern border of the 
United States southward. ' 
This and other Educational Leaflets are for sale, at 5 cents each, the National Association of 
Audubon Societies, 1974 Broadway, New York City. Lists given on request. 
