144 HABITS OF THE AVOCET. 



In the system of the feathered tribes, the Avocets stand alone, forming not 

 only a well marked genus, but a very distinct family, whether we make their 

 structure or their habits the basis of our judgment. The parts of their structure 

 harmonize with the use which is made of them, in that beautiful manner which 

 is observable throughout the whole animal kingdom, and, indeed, throughout the 

 whole wide and varied field of creation ; but still both the structure and the 

 application are peculiar, and such as we do not find in any other bird. Accord- 

 ingly, the habits of the Avocet are singular, and no other bird can be said to 

 dwell, or rather to feed, in localities of the same kind. It is, in the places where 

 it is found, the last of the land-birds ; and, one step beyond it, the feathered in- 

 habitant is fairly launched upon the waters, and 



" Rows its state with oary feet." 



Besides being a very peculiar bird, the Avocet is a very handsome one. It 

 measures in length about a foot and a half; but when the legs, which are very 

 strong, are stretched out, they increase the length at least six inches more. The 

 tail is short and rounded, and the closed wings extend a little beyond the tip of 

 it. The wings, when expanded, measure about two feet and a half. The bill is 

 curved upwards, and measures about three inches and a half along the curve. 

 When the bird walks, it carries the axis of the body more nearly in an erect than 

 in a horizontal position ; but still it is a steady, and even a swift walker, as com- 

 pared with the entirely web-footed birds which carry the axis of the body in this 

 position. Its feet are, indeed, more than half webbed ; for the entire web extends 

 to half the length of the toes, which it joins, and is continued, in straight lines, to 

 the roots of the claws. The foot is peculiar ; and almost exactly intermediate 

 between the wading foot properly so called, and the swimming foot ; but it is not, 

 as in the case of the lobed feet, or those with divided webs, adapted for acting 

 among the tangled vegetation ; it is a foot fitted only for free space, but it is fitted 

 equally for hard and soft surfaces, or occasionally for the waters. By having the 

 hind toe almost rudimental, it agrees both with the swift running birds and the 

 dexterous swimming ones ; and when we examine the enlarged pad on the heel, 

 and the symmetry of the toes, it is not easy to imagine a more complete piece of 

 mechanism, or one better adapted to the haunts of the bird, than the foot of the 

 Avocet. 



Head. 

 Foot. 



