LONG-LEGGED PLOVER. 
79 
even, or very slightly forked, and of a dingy white ; the 
vent-feathers reach to the tip of the tail below ; line 
before the eye, auricuiars, back part of the neck, 
scapulars, and whole wings, deep black, richly glossed 
with green ; legs and naked thighs, a fine pale carmine ; 
the latter measures three, the former four inches and a 
half in length, exceedingly thin, and so flexible that 
they may be bent considerably without danger of 
breaking. This thinness of the leg enables the bird to 
wade with expedition, and without fatigue. Feet, three- 
toed, the outer toe connected to the middle one by a 
broad membrane ; wings, long, extending two inches 
beyond the tail, and sharp pointed; irides, a bright 
rich scarlet ; pupil, black. In some the white from the 
breast extends quite round the neck, separating the 
black of the hind neck from that of the body ; claws, 
blackish horn. 
The female is about half an inch shorter, and differs 
in having the plumage of the upper back and scapulars, 
and also the tertials, of a deep brown colour. The 
stomach, or gizzard, was extremely muscular, and con- 
tained 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 counted 
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 upper curvature of the bill, though 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 scrupulous observer 
that nature has classed these two birds together. 
