HIMANTOPUS.
Bill straight ; legs very long; outer and middle toes united at base by membrane, inner and middle very slightly; no hind toe; gregarious; 4 eggs, in depression on dry mud or on herbage in swamps, are like Avocets'.
Himantopus himantopus hhnantopus (L.). BLACK WINGED STILT. Fr. Echasse blanche ; Ger. Stelzenlaufer ; Ital. Cavalier d'Italia.
Back, scapulars and wings dark greenish black, tail pale grey, rest of plumage white. Bill black. Legs and feet pink. Irides carmine. Wing 230-250. Tarsus Naked part of tibia 80-95. Bill 61-7o. 9 back and scapulars brown. Wing
218-236. Tarsus 109-116. Young : crown and hind neck grey, upper parts brown with rusty margins, secondaries and inner primaries with white tips.
Ilreeds.—S. France, Portugal and Spain, Sicily, Dalmatia, Rumania, Turkey, Hungary, and S. Russia ; exceptionally Holland and Belgium ; also Africa and Asia east to China. Migratory ; winters in Africa and S. Asia. has occurred fairly often in European Countries outside breeding range, occasional in British Isles.