i88 
allen’s naturalist’s library. 
of the ground-colour is a warm or pale clay-brown, some of the 
lighter-coloured eggs having an olive tinge. The spots are 
black and generally distributed over the egg, some of the larger 
ones being confluent and forming blotches. In many examples, 
however, the markings are very small and take the form of 
scratches and scribblings. The underlying spots are stone- 
grey, and are more perceptible in the sparsely-marked eggs. 
Axis, I75-2-OS inches; diam., r2S-i-55. 
THE STILTS. GENUS IIIMANTOPUS. 
Himantopiis, Briss, Orn. v. p. 33 (1760). 
Type, ff. hiniantopics (L.). 
The Stilts are distinguished from the Avocets by their 
straight bill and thin, long legs, which extend far behind the 
body of the birds. The toes have scarcely any connecting 
web, and are divided almost to the base. They differ from the 
Avocets also in wanting the hind-toe, or hallux. In Australia 
an intermediate form, Cladorhynchus, occurs, which has 
webbed toes and wants the hallux, resembling the Stilts in 
these respects, "but having a slightly upturned bill, as in the 
Avocets. . , , • , 
Seven species of Stilts are known, and they inhabit both the 
Eastern and Western Hemispheres, though they do not range 
north of the temperate portions of the globe. H. mexicanus 
replaces H. himantopus in North America, H. knudseni is 
peculiar to the Sandwich Islands, H. melanurus is South 
American, while H. leucocephalus, IT. picatus, and H. melas 
belong to the Australian Region. 
I. THE BLACK-WINGED STILT. HIMANTOPUS HIMANTOPUS. 
Charadrius himantopus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 255 (1766). 
Himantopus mclanopterus, Meyer; Macgill. Brit. B. iv. p. 312 
(1852); Seebohm, Hist. Brit. B. iii. p. 79 (1885); Lil- 
ford. Col. Fig. Brit. B. part xiii. (i8go). 
Himantopus caudidus, Bonn.; Dresser, B. Eur. vii. p. 587, pis. 
535 ) 53 ^ (1877) ; B. O. U. List Brit. B. p. 163 (1883) ; 
Saunders, ed. Yarrell’s Brit. B. iii. p. 305 (1883); id. 
Man. Brit. B. p. 547 (18S9). 
