78 
HIMANTOPUS NIGRICOLLIS. 
food, which they scoop up very dexterously with their 
delicately formed hills. On being' wounded while in 
the water, they attempt to escape by diving’, at which 
they are by no means expert. In autumn their flesh is 
tender, and w r ell tasted. They seldom raise more than 
one brood in the season, and depart for the south early 
in September. As they are well known in Jamaica, it 
is probable some of them may winter in that and other 
of the West India islands. 
Mr Pennant observes, that this bird is not a native 
of northern Europe ; and there have been but few 
instances where it has been seen in Great Britain. It 
is common, says Latham, in Egypt, being- found there 
in the marshes in October. It is likewise plentiful 
about the salt lakes, and is often seen on the shores 
of the Caspian sea, as well as by the rivers which 
empty themselves into it, and in the southern deserts 
of Independent Tartary. The same author adds, on the 
authority of Bay, that it is known at Madras in the 
East Indies. 
All the figures and descriptions which I have seen 
of this curious bird, represented the bill as straight, 
and of almost an equal thickness throughout, which I 
have never found so in any of the numerous specimens 
I have myself shot and examined. Many of these 
accounts, as well as figures, have been taken from 
dried and stuffed skins, which give but an imperfect 
and often erroneous idea of the true outlines of nature. 
The dimensions, colours, and markings, of a very beau- 
tiful specimen, newly shot, were as follow : — 
Length, from the point of the bill to the end of the 
tail, fourteen inches, to the tips of the wings, sixteen ; 
extent, twenty-eight inches; bill, three inches long, 
slightly curved upwards, tapering to a hoe point, the 
upper mandible rounded above, the whole of a deep 
black colour ; nostrils, an oblong slit, pervious ; tongue, 
short, pointed ; forehead, spot behind the eye, lower 
eyelid, sides of the neck and whole lower parts, pure 
white; back, rump, and tail-coverts, also white, but so 
concealed by the scapulars as to appear black; tail. 
