Early in December we found an egg in Mount Edgecumbe pond, undoubtedly of this species, for no other large bird frequents it. It was larger than a hen’s egg, but more regularly oval: and appeared to have been of a pale blue tint, but covered with a coat of white chalky substance. It was lying on some crushed reeds at the surface, but evidently had been floating a long time, for it was discoloured, and the contents were coagulated by decomposition. CINEREOUS COOT.[120] _Fulica Americana._—+Gmel.+ Aud. pl. 239. [120] Length 15¹⁄₂ inches, expanse 27¹⁄₄, flexure 7³⁄₄, tail 2¹⁄₁₀, rictus 1⁴⁄₁₀, height of shield from base of lower mandible 1, tarsus 2¹⁄₂, 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 26³⁄₄, flexure 8¹⁄₂, tail 2⁹⁄₁₀, rictus 2⁷⁄₁₀, naked tibia 3, tarsus 4¹⁄₂, middle toe 1⁷⁄₁₀. Intestine 12 inches, two cæca attached by a mesentery, 1 inch long, 1¹⁄₂ inch from cloaca.