or little-known Limicolse. 
259 
Recurvirostra rubricollis, Temm. Man. cPOrn. ii. p. 592 
(1820) ; Lesson, Traite d^Orn. p. 592 (1831) ; Gould, 
Synops. B. Anstr. pt. ii. (1837); B. Austr. fol. vi. pi. 27; 
Handb. B. Austr. ii. p. 249 (1865); Schlegel, Mns. Pays 
Bas (Scolopac.), p. 104 (1864); Gray, Ibis, 1862, p. 237; 
Hand-list, iii. p. 47 (1871); Downing, Proc. Boy. Soc. Tas¬ 
mania, vol. iii. pt. 2; Ibis, 1861, p. 119. 
Avocetta novae-zealandice , Ell man. Zoologist, 1861, p. 7470. 
Hab. Australia, Queensland, New South Wales; Tasmania 
{Rev. T. J. Ewing ); Norfolk Island {Downing) ; New Zea¬ 
land {Duller, Ellman ). 
Diagn . R. alba : capite et colli dimidio superior© castaneis, 
hoc colore antice ad pectus producto; scapularibus ex parte, 
tectricibus alarum et remigibus primariis nigris; rostro nigro; 
iride rufescenti-fusca; pedibus cseruleis : long. tot. circa 18 5 
poll.; rostr. 35 ; al8e8*6-9‘2; tib. nud. 1*75 ; tars. 3*2; dig. 
med. P5-P8. 
The Bed-necked Avocet, which is perhaps the most beau¬ 
tiful of the four known species, chiefly inhabits Australia, and 
is there confined, for the most part, to the western and 
southern portions of that country, although I have received 
specimens and seen others from Queensland. Mr. Gould did 
not meet with it himself during his rambles in New South 
Wales, but has now and then seen it in collections from those 
parts; and there is a specimen thence in the Leiden Museum. 
Like other species of the genus, “ it frequents,” says Mr. 
Gould, “ the shallow parts of lakes, inlets of the sea, and the 
muddy banks of the rivers, often wading knee-deep in the 
water, and readily swimming when necessity requires it so to 
do. Its food consists of minute marine mollusca and insects, 
which it gathers from the surface of the mud with its deli¬ 
cately organized bill, the structure of which is admirably 
adapted for the purpose. In Western Australia the favourite 
localities of this bird are the lakes in the neighbourhood of 
Perth and on Bottnest Island, where it is seen in small flocks 
in company with Himantopus leucocephalus. In South Aus¬ 
tralia the river Murray and the shores of Lake Alexandrina 
afford situations equally adapted for its existence.” 
