78 
HIMANTOPUS NIGRICOLLIS. 
food, ■which they scoop U]) very dexterously with thf' 
delicately formed hills. On beiiijf wounded u hile 6 
the water, they attempt to escape by diviujr, at wb'tf 
they are by no means expei’t. In autumn their ilesh’ 
tender, and tvell tasted. They seldom raise more t!>' 
one brood in the season, and depart for the south eiin 
in September. As tliey are tvell knou n in JamaicS) , 
is probahh' some of them may winter in that and otb* 
of the West India islands. 
Mr Pennant observes, that this bird is not a nati** 
of northern Europe ; and there have been but i*'? 
instances where it has been seen in Oreat Britain. ' 
is common, says Latham, in Eitypt, beinsf found th^*^ 
in the marshes in October. It is likewise pleuti^ 
about the salt lakes, and is often seen on the sho>j 
of the Caspian sea, as well as by the rivers whi*' 
empty themselves into it, and in the southern desi'd; 
of Independent Tartary. Tlie same author adds, on 
authority of Ray, that it is known at Madras in 
East Indies. 
All the figures and descriptions which I have se<* 
of this curious bird, represented the hill as straiir'’^ 
and of almost an equal thickness throughout, wliic'' 
have never found so in any of the numerous sjtecinn!''’ 
I have myself shot and examined. Many of th‘'^ 
accounts, as well as figures, have been taken fr®j5 
dried and stuffed skins, which give but an imperl*^ 
and often erroneous idea of the true outlines of iiatu^ 
The dimensions, colours, and markings, of a very bes*’’ 
tiful specimen, newly shot, were as follow: — 
Length, I'roin the point of the hill to the end of 
ail, fourteen inches, to the tins of flie xi-io.rc f,'vtee*^* 
tail, fourteen inches, to the tips of the wings, sixte*^'* 
extent, twenty-eight inches; bill, three inches lo"^ 
slightly curved upwards, tapering to a fine point, 
upper mandible rounded above, the whole of a de*" 
black colour ; nostrils, an oblong slit, pervious ; tong'*^ 
short, pointed; forehead, spot behind the eye, lo"'! 
eyelid, sides of the neck and whole lower parts, p*^ 
white ; hack, rump, and tail-coverts, also wdiite, but 
concealed by the scapulars as to appear black; 
