76 WADING BIRDS. 



plains, as far as the 53d parallel, where they frequent shallow 

 Jakes, feeding on insects, and fresh-water Crustacea. In 

 New Jersey, they seem to have a predilection for the shallow 

 pools of the salt marshes, wading about often, in search of 

 their prey, which consists of marine worms, small paludinas, 

 turbos, &c. to which, like the European species, they some- 

 times add, small Fuci, or marine vegetables. 



The Avosets, near their breeding places, are very noisy, 

 quailing and clamorous ; flying around in circles near their 

 invaders, and, in a sharp but plaintive tone, uttering ' clik, 

 ' clik, ' dik, in the manner of the Stilts or Long Legs 

 (Himantopus,) with which at times, they familiarly associate, 

 in small numbers, to pass the important period of reproduc- 

 tion. Like them also, they alight on the marsh, or in the 

 water indifferently, fluttering their loose wings, and shaking 

 their tottering and bending legs, as if ready to fall, keep- 

 ing up at the same time, a continual yelping. The nest, in 

 the same marsh with the Stilts, was hidden in a thick tuft of 

 grass or sedge, at a small distance from one of their favorite 

 pools. It was composed of small twigs of some marine shrub, 

 withered grass, sea-weeds, and other similar materials, the 

 whole raised to the height of several inches. The eggs were 

 4, of a dull olive color, marked with large irregular blotches 

 of dark brown, mingled with others of a fainter hue. The 

 period of incubation commences about the middle of May. 



The Scooping Avoset of Europe, so like to the American 

 species, is very widely spread over the old continent, being 

 found all over Europe, in Siberia, the deserts of Tartary, 

 and even at the Cape of Good Hope. Salerne says, that on 

 the coasts of Bas Poictou, in France, they are so abundant, 

 that, in the breeding season, the peasants take the eggs by 

 thousands. They are said also to be very tenacious of their 

 young, and when disturbed, fly around, uttering a plaintive 

 note, that resembles the word Hwit^ twice repeated. 



