816 
BIRD-LIFE. 
shallow water, though it never appears to stand on its 
head, as does the Avocet, nor fishes at the bottom like 
some species of Ducks. 
The Blackwinged Stilt breeds in Egypt in the begin¬ 
ning of May, and in Southern Europe in the beginning 
of June. The nest has been described to me as consisting 
of a hollow surrounded with a net-work of grass, and 
placed in the midst of the thickest reed-grass, and was, 
as I have been told, very difficult to find. The eggs 
which I received were of a greenish gray, speckled with a 
dark and a reddish shade, resembling in that respect 
those of other members of the family. 
This bird can manage to exist in Egypt all the year 
round, and is therefore not obliged to migrate. The 
family probably remain the whole winter in the locality 
where the young were reared. The natives do not molest 
it: no Egyptian sportsman ever kills a bird which alights 
in his village, while he does not treat those which 
frequent the larger lakes and marshes with the same 
kind consideration; it is, probably, from this cause, that 
the Stilts which one meets with on the shores of the 
lakes are, without doubt, wilder than those in the 
villages, though even in the latter case they soon become 
very shy if persecuted. They rise when at a great 
distance from the gunner, uttering a loud “kiak, kiak,” 
though they will alight with the greatest confidence near 
unarmed people, especially women,—a proof of their 
powers of discrimination. The flesh of the Stilt is far 
inferior to that of all other members of the family, and 
is hard and tough; this renders it unpopular with the 
gunner. 
The Blackwinged . Stilt probably occurs in Germany 
more often than one would suppose. The latest observa- 
