Bill about twice as long as the head, very slender, roundish, tapering, slightly recurved; upper mandible with its outline slightly curved upwards, the ridge rather flattened, the sides convex, the edges inflected, the tip narrow and rather acute; nasal groove nearly half the length of the bill; lower mandible with the angle very long and narrow, the sides grooved as far as the angle. Nostrils linear, direct, subbasal. Head small, ovate, rounded above; neck very long and slender; body rather compact. Legs extremely elongated, slender; tibia bare for more than half its length, covered anteriorly with large curved scutella; tarsus very long, moderately compressed, scutellate before, reticulate on the sides; toes of moderate length, slender; first toe wanting; outer a little longer than inner, anterior toes webbed at the base. Claws small, nearly straight, moderately compressed. Plumage ordinary. Wings very long, of moderate breadth, acute, the first quill longest. Tail short, even, of twelve feathers. 356. 1. Himantopus nigricollis, Vieill. Black-necked Stilt.--Lawyer. Plate CCCXXVIII. Male. Bill black; feet lake-coloured; upper part of head, fore part and sides of neck, and all the lower parts, together with the hind part of the back, rump, and tail, white, the middle feathers of the latter tinged with ash-grey; hind neck, fore part of back, scapulars, wings, and lower wing-coverts, bluish-black, glossed with green. Young individuals have only the forehead white, and the back greyish-brown. _Male_, 14-1/2, 27. _Female_, 14, 25-3/4. Rather common in Texas during spring. Breeds on different parts of the Atlantic coast, as far as Long Island. A few spend the winter about the mouths of the Mississippi. Migratory. Long-legged Avocet, Recurvirostra Himantopus, Wils. Amer. Orn. v. vii. p. 48. Himantopus nigricollis, Bonap. Syn. p. 322. Black-necked Stilt, Nutt. Man. v. ii. p. 8. Black-necked Stilt, Himantopus nigricollis, Aud. Orn. Biog. v. iv. p. 247. GENUS X. NUMENIUS, Briss. CURLEW.