Himantopus. Generic Çhara,cters,—Beak JLoçg, slender, ^eyjindrical,^-flattened
at the base, compressed at the point, both mandibles grooved on the sides
along the basal half of their length. Nostrils latéral, linear, èîôngated.' Legs
very long and slender,-three toes in front, "the middle toe united to the outer toe
by a jnembrane of eonàde&ab^e size, and" to the interierToe. by^a.membrape of
smaller size; claws or nails very small, flat. Wings very long, the first quill-r
feather considerably the. loflgest in the wing.
Sir R obert Sibbald first recorded the Black Winged
Stilt as a visiter to these'islands from two-* spécifiions, that
were killed in Scotland, and Mr. Don, in his account of the
native plants and the animals of EmCarshire, has mptiiGed -two
others,-also killed in Scotland, one on the mountain^ of
CJova, and thè other on Ben Lasers in Perthshire. -The
appearance of .this bird, though not nufrequeSJt^js,&till accidental,
and seems".'to have.tich rhference Ao . any
season of thê^year. Mr. ThompSofi^of, Belfast mentions that
one of these bir.ds was seen /î||Mr, Robert Ball at Youghall,
ip fhe winter pf 1828, Montagu, in his. siipplenqent^iOjtiees
one that was killed-at A'ngleseà. I t has bepn'-nbtapped -dn
Devonshire, and -in Dorsetshire, Æe,flat ter near PobJerv Mr.
William Borrer, Jun.'sent me word that an adult specimen'
had been shot near Havants/in Hampshire, whip!', had been
prepared, and wâs now in the-po^essiottof-F. Hopkins* Esq.
jo£ Hubborne Lodge, near Christchurch. MThite .of Selborne
notices five that were killed out of a flock ,©f six, that visited
Frinsham Pond, a large piece of water lying between Wolmer
Forest and the town of Farnham,^during the last week of
April 1779 ; and Pennant mentions one that-was obtained
near; Oxford.
Of some "specimens killed in Norfolk, the Rev. Richard
Lubbock sent me an account as follows. “ On the,ninth of
June 1822, I was returning in the evening from fishing upon
Hickling Broad, when a bird of this species flew past the
boat'^ithin. thirty yards. , The legs were extended behind,
even more in proportion than those of a Heron ; the wings
were much arched ; the flight vigorous and regular; the
colour and the length of limb made me guess what it must
be. I asked the fenman who was with me what he guessed
it to be. He Considered it a Ruff which had been caught,
as is- sometimes the ease in our marshes by a horsehair snare,
and had broken away with it. When I told him that I believed
it tt^be^a very rare and valuable bird he wished to go
in immediate pursuit; but I over-ruled that, as there was not
more than half an hour’s light remaining, and the bird, if shot
at ineffectually, might leave" the country in the night. We
searched for' it early the next morning and found it precisely
in the same placejas the evening before. When shot, it was
standing in a shallow, pool of water mid leg deep, apparently
snapping at insects in the air as they buzzed round it. Since
then a pair was shot by Mr. Salmon at Stoke Ferry, in the
spring of 1826, the female had eggs within her in a forward
state; one of these last is now in the collection of Mr.
Lombe.” '
My own specimen, from which the figure and description
herergiven was derived, was obtained in the London market
in July 1824, and was -sent up for sale from Lincolnshire:
while this bird was in the hands of Mr. Leadbeater for
preservation, another was received from Norfolk. In the
ititestines of this last specimen, which I examined, was a
species of tape worm, six inches in length, broad, flat, and
jointed.
Interesting accounts of an American Stilt, with a black
neck, will be found in the works of Wilson, Mr. J . J . Audubon,
and Dr. Nuttall, with which, in its habits, the European
species most likely agrees. Our bird appears to prefer
the margins of lakes rather than the sides of rivers: it lays
four eggs, which have been figured by Thieneman, and are
represented of a pale blue colour, blotched and streaked with
ash green, and dark brown ;■ one inch nine lines in length, by
VOL. I I . 2 o