slender, pointed, and flexible, having very much the appearance
of a thin piece of elastic whalebone. The semi-
palmated feet are weir adapted for supporting the bird on
the soft mud which it. frequents; but it is a mistake to
suppose that the Avocét cahnoT swim with ease, when; the
occasion requires, and it frequently wades into-the wTater up
to its belly. Messrs. Sheppard and Whitear say,\-in their
Catalogue of Norfolk and Suffolk Birds, respecting one
which they saw in the breeding-season of 1816 on uthe
marshes of Win ter t on,_ and which had young^^-“ This -bird
made several circles round kits, uttermg or “shrill mote/and
then alighted in the middle Lf a pool of waterton which at
floated; then /fóok. several turns qhwing^and again alighted
on the water, where i t , sat motionless/’,
The Avocét was formerly a regular visitor to'öur dé.pres,
and bred;- in- considerable numbers' in suitable localities.
Sir Thomas Bro^flpEn 1668, describes/l^fïas “ a -shewing
horn or barker, fipm the figure of “the bill and ba’rMiïgëfete ;
a long made bird of white^and%^Mackis}fl coIoUr; fin footed;
a marsh bird; and^npfj: rare some^jti^S|“lnf thé yealiin
Marshland.” :Wp to the beginning .of the present century
the bird was still abundant in several localities’ on the feast
coast of England, and 'oJjE^mden’s
‘Britannia,’ erdarged bv fM#^iddition of notis-from
Pennant and others, *iVa stklément ^(1. p. that Opposite
Eosdyke Wash’[Ljyucolpshh^gduring summer-are vast
numbers of Avosettas, hilled: them Yelpef®] from- theirflory
as they hSyêï övér thé "sportsman’s head“ Irke^B^pw-in^Si”
vJ^^h^Eeidj of 'Po^asler^^formed Mr. A. |t |f ^ore,
in a .dated June 1st; X861, that so recently;- ag.,-/about
twenty years-'prior to_that dale 'ain ' Av-ëoef’ f" nggs werêntaken
k% "the mouth of the'Trent; wheré th a t nVe!rdivides*Yorkshire
from Lincolnshire“ - Drainage; óf the,r n a . r é/ndJaAr-
socution by gunners and egg-gatherers, did their work in’ the
Favou'ffiè hauntsï of this- -cohspicüöü^^^'èSië'è^'bè^h fin Lincolnshire
and 1« Norfolk, -and^the/beèurmnó^'m’-the'year
1816 at Winte^tonj was probably the, last ;daterof. thedpreed-
ing «if .the Avoeet in that’ locality/ At MgM
Rising informed Mr. Stevenson (B. of Norfolk, ii. p. 238|ft
Avoeets continued to breed until-1819, and perhaps a year
or two later ; and at Saltbouse,- where' they were known as
‘,‘>Clinkers,’’ they do not appear to Lave become extinct
until;1822 to 1825. Sinc^that period- they have occurred
at irregular intervals, mostly in May and' June, and occasionally
in autumn ; but any hope pf the re-establLshment'
of the species as a breeder has beep"' promptly frustrated
by the gun- of the loe#l .collector; the,. value of a British-
killed specimen .being far greater than the’amount of any
fine imposed on: conviction under the Wild Birds’ Preservation
Act. In Suffolk -it used'to breed near' Aldborough:§
Romney Marsh; in Kent, -was also a breeding-place of' the
4?ydcet in former years ; and Markwick,. ;in his Catalogue of
the Birds eddSusser,-printed ip -1795; says, "This-bird is
not uncommon -on our sea.-eoast in summer; but whether it
isi-to be fotfnd--he&e-rin winter I .cannot.tell,- as.I ,do- not re collect
to- Lave"eyer. seen.* it at, that season. That it breeds
here I havetbeen an eyg-^wItneSs-, for I remember- that several
years ago, I found in marshes nuar.,38;ye,'^ young cue" of
this species-, which appaaredyto Lave been ju s t hatched, and
Ttohk-it up in my hands, whilst the old birds kept -flying
round me.5r |I -have also* seen «it in thp; summer on the sea->
Coast; att Bexhill.” . -..SmctAthat date ,tji% species has passed
intp the^eategory' ,of--visitants -to; that ;cpup|;yi and Mr. A;
$Mt<dSgigx rsaysrit islof|rare.'occurrence there, sometimes in
smalLfloeks,- but generally alond:H
.•/The ' Avoeet Las rbeen- noticed' several;ttimes> in Cornwall,
Devonshire,:- Dorsetshire^ /(jrloucesteushire"-Shropshire,^'and
some, other/counties', becoming; rarer,; towards the north-.
Mr. Bordeaux; informs; the,-;Editor th,at he, has-only seen, i t
on the ffumber'fiats since- ;1872.- I t has;occurred; t-w<5
®A;three times at ■ Teesmouth | > once at Hartley in Durham ;
and, in .Scotland, in Aberdeen, and Fife sh ip / I t has also
been obtained at Stornoway, in the island of Lewis ; in the
Drkneysi^anduohce-, ,by Dr. Saxby, jatdAyea-Sound; Shetland,
en*the 4th March, 1871'.
In Ireland*, according1 to Thompson, it is a very rare