76 
IIIMANTOPUS NIGRICOms. 
observer of nature, the true relationship of th^^ 
remarkable birds. 
Strongly impressed with these facts, from an intin*?* 
acquaintance with the living subjects, in their uat’*' 
wilds, I have presumed to remove the present spe*^ 
to the ti-ue and proper place assigned it by nati>!* 
and shall now proceed to detail some particulars ot ^ 
history. 
This species arrives on the sea coa.st of New Jei^' 
about the ‘25th of April, in small detached Hocks, f 
twenty or thirty together. These sometimes 
subdivide into lesser parties ; but it rarely h.appens w 
a pair is found solitary, as, during the breeding seas^ 
they usually associate in small companies. On tb*? 
first arrival, and, indeed, dui-ing the whole of tli^ 
residence, they iuhabit those particular parts of ** 
salt marshes pretty high up tonards the land, 
are broken into numerous shallow pools, but .arc ^ 
usually overflowed by the tides during the sumia^ 
These pools or ponds are generally so shallow, tb** 
with their long legs, the avosets can easily n-ade th'^ 
in every direction ; and as they abound 'with niia'*!! 
shell-fish, and multitudes of aquatic insects and tb*j 
larvae, besides the eggs and spa^vu of others depos**^ 
in the soft mud below, these birds find here an ab^ 
dant supply of food, and are almost continually 
wading about in such places, often up to the breast^ 
water. , 
In the vicinity of these bald places, as they are caU^ 
fifty yards off, among the thick tufts of grass, oiK'^ 
these small associations, consisting perhajis of si>',^ 
eight pair, takes up its residence during the brecd'J 
season. About the first week in May, they begin q 
construct their nests, which are at first slightly forin'\ 
of a sm.all qu.intity ot old grass scarcely sufficient j 
keep the eggs trom the wet marsh. As they lay K 
sit, however, either dreading the rise of the tidcs,^. 
for some other purpose, the nest is increased in hei?^ 
with dry twigs of a shrub very common in the marsb 
roots ot the salt grass, sea-weed, and various oU 
