Aud. pl. 239.
[120] Length 15½ inches, expanse 27¼, flexure 7¾, tail 2¹⁄₁₀, rictus 1⁴⁄₁₀, height of shield from base of lower mandible 1, tarsus 2½, middle toe 3⁴⁄₁₀, width of middle membrane ⁹⁄₁₀.
In the immense morass behind Savanna le Mar, the dense rushes afford shelter to innumerable aquatic birds, among which one may recognise, even at a distance, the Sultanas by their graceful air and slender form, the Gallinules by their scarlet shields, and the Coots by their conspicuous ivory beaks. In the broad spaces of open water, which here and there margin the reeds, as at Radonda, they may be seen at all hours of the day, if undisturbed, hundreds congregated within an acre. Wary, however, to an excess, the distant sight of a man, or the snapping of the twigs beneath his tread, alarms the whole, and away they flutter into the covert, splashing the surface as they go. Yet the noise made by the cattle walking on the shore, or trampling and munching the reeds, as they wade breast-high, has no such effect. The best way to shoot them is to lie very quiet, if the musquitoes will allow you, behind a bush, and take them as they come out, sometimes two or three at a shot; or else to wade in among the reeds, and bring them down as they rise; though sometimes you cannot flush them. A good water dog is indispensable to success.
As far as my observation goes, the white shield is the mark of mature age: in the young it is dark brown; I have not seen any with the shield wholly white, the upper part still being brown. After having been carried head downward for some time, I found the beak of one, instead of white, livid purple, as if filled with blood. The stomachs usually contain small seeds, and decaying vegetable matter mixed with mud and sand.
Fam.—RECURVIROSTRADÆ. (The Avocets.)
ROSEATE STILT.[121]
Himantopus nigricollis.
| Recurvirostra himantopus, | Wils.—Aud. pl. 328. |
| Himantopus nigricollis, | Vieill. |
[121] Length 14 inches, expanse 26¾, flexure 8½, tail 2⁹⁄₁₀, rictus 2⁷⁄₁₀, naked tibia 3, tarsus 4½, middle toe 1⁷⁄₁₀. Intestine 12 inches, two cæca attached by a mesentery, 1 inch long, 1½ inch from cloaca.