56 
AMERICAN STILT. 
muscular ; those which I examined contained fragments of small 
snail shells, winged bugs, and a slimy matter, supposed to be the 
remains of some aquatic worms. In one of these females I count- 
ed upwards of one hundred and fifty eggs, some of them as large 
as buck shot. The singular form of the legs and feet, with the 
exception of the hind toe, and one membrane of the foot, is exactly 
like those of the Avoset. The upward eurvature of the bill, tho 
not quite so great, is also the same as in the other, being rounded 
above, and tapering to a delicate point in the same manner. In 
short, a slight comparison of the two is sufficient to satisfy the 
most sci’upulous observer that nature has classed these two birds 
together ; and so believing, it is with reluctance that we are com- 
pelled to separate them. 
I at first thought this bird was the Long-legged Plover iChara- 
drills himantopiis) of Europe, but I am now convinced that it is a 
distinct species. In Bi'isson’s account of it, there is a little disa- 
greement with the above description ; but it must be recollected, 
that it inhabits Mexico during the winter only ; and there is reason 
to conclude that, in common with several other species, its plumage 
undergoes a slight change after its departure from its native re- 
gions. I have never been enabled to ascertain that it winters in 
any part of the United States ; but think it more than pi'obable 
tlmt many remain during the winter in Louisiana. 
