172 AMERICAN AVOSET.
stone. In May 182!), 1 saw three of these birds at Great Egg Harbour,
but found no néstsj although those of the I.ong-legged Awet
of Wi l s on were not uncommon. My friend John Haohman considers
them as rare in South Carolina, where, however,-ho has occasionally
seen some on the gravelly shores of the sea islands. _
On the 16th .if April 1887, MY GOOD .friend Captain Napoleon
Coste, of the United States Revenue Gutter the Campbell, on hoard
of which I then WEB, shot three individuals of this species on an irni
f i , ^ ' ' « a n d - h a r , intersected by pools,, about twelve miles H m Dei-.
n i , , r e island on the Gulf of Mexico, and brought them to me in perfect
order.: They were larger,' and perhaps handsomer, than any that I
have seen ; and had! been killed out of a Hock of five while feeding.
11« Saw several large flocks on the: same grounds, and assured me
that the only note they emitted was a single sSisil»« He also observed
«Dir manner of feeding, which he represented as similar to that
described above. :
My friend Thomas Ne tSalé:«!®. in a note, that he " fourni this
èf gêïfs' breeding on the islands of shallow ponds throughout the Rocky
Mountains about midsummer. They exhibited great fear and clamour
at the approach of the party,: but no nests were found, tlV.lv being then
under march." Dr Rkhakdsox status, that it:!? abundant:on the Saskatchewan
Plains, where itffrequents shallow lakeland feed? on ins'edtsand.'
sa^-Seih-wateroadstrtP.ea. .
Thé flight of the American Avoset resembles that of the Himantopus
,iiarkoUis: Both these/birds pass through the. air as,if bent on rcmov
ing to a' grcat distance, much in the manner of-,the Tell-tale Godwit,
or with an easjv rather swift amLeontinued flight, the legs'and neck
fully extended. When plunginig towards an in trader, it at times comes
downwards, and passes by you, with the speed of an arrow fnm. a bow,
but usually in moving off again, it suffers its legs to hang considerably.
I h a v e n e v e r seen one'of them exhibit: the bending and tremulous motions
of the legs spoken of by writers, even when raised suddenly from
the nest ; Slid I think that I am equally safe in saying, that the bill
has never been drawn from a fresh specimen, or before it has under-
WSÊÊ curvature, which i t . a « s è # h « w when M bird is alive. The
n o t c s 0f this bird resemble the syllable cRclc, sometimes repeated in a
very hurried manner, especially under alarm.
AMERICAN AVOSET. 173
. • BBMMMBMMIBiMM h b h m
«owns of Bird» of Vniiejl Stales, p. 31)4.
A.voskt, B S W ^ A M W , AMER. OMITH. voL v.,
'p. 126,-p£ 63, fig. 2.
Ambuca^ M l * . Bor-Aim*. vol.;«. p.
375.
Akebicak Avoset, Sutm, Manual, vol. ii. p. 7«.
Adult Male. Plate CCCXVIII. Fig. 1
Bill more than « i c e the length of the head, very slender, muchde-'
pressed, tapering to a point, and s ^My recurved.; Upper mandible,
with the dorsal line straight for half its length, then a little curved
upwards, and at the tip slightly dcourved, the ridge broad and flattened,
the edges rather thick, the nasal groove rather long and very narrow.
Nostrils linear, basal, pervious. Lower mandible with the angle long
and very narrow, the dorsal line t ight l y eteved upwards, the point
very slender, extremely thin and a little curved upwards.
Head small, rounded above, rather compressed. Nefik long. Body
compact, ovate: Legs very long, slender; tibia elongated, bare for
half its length, and reticulated; tarsus very long, compressed, reticulated
with hexagonal scales ; toes rather short,, the first extremely
small; outer toe a little l.'inger than inner; the anterior toes connected
by webs' of which the anterior margin is deeply concave, the lateral
toes thickly margined. Claws very small', 'compressed rather blunt.
Plumage s f j and blended. Wings long, of moderate breadth,
pointed; primaries straightish, tapering, the first longest, the rest ra.
pidly graduated; secondaries broad, incurved, the outer rounded, the
rest becoming pointed, the inner elongated and tapering. Tail short,
even, of twelve rather narrow, rounded feathers.
Bill black. Iris bright carmine. Keet light; blue, webs flesh-coloured
towards their edges, claws black. Head, neck, and fore part of
breast, reddish-buff, the parts around the base of the bill and the eye,
nearly white. The back is white;;, but on its fore part is a longitudinal
band of brownish-black elongated feathers on esujh side, and the
inner scapulars, are of the same colour, the outer and the anterior edge
of the wing being white. The wing brownish-black, with a broad
band of white formed by the tips of the secondary coverts, four of the
inner secondaries, and the basal part, with the inner webs and outer
edges of the rest. The under parts white, excepting some of the primary
quills and some of their coverts. which are greyish-brown.
Length to end of tai 18 inches, to end of wings 18£, to end of claws