or little-known Limicolae. 247 



is equally at home during the breeding-time ; but Mr. Howard 



Saunders, who has obtained the eggs there, states (Ibis, 1871, 

 p. 387) that it does not appear to be numerous, since only a 

 few pairs came under his own observation. 



Dr. Cullen, referring to the present species, says the Avocet 

 is rather a common bird in the Dobrudscha dui'ing the breed- 

 ing-season. There it never nests in marshes, nor in weeds or 

 grass, but always on the sand, mud, or shingle left dry, or 

 nearly so, by the partial drying up or receding of the salt lakes 

 or ponds. There are several of these in the neighbourhood 

 of Kustendji, upon the shores of which the Avocet breeds. 



The nest is usually a mere hollow lined with stems, straws 

 and pieces of caked mud, but is frequently without any hning 

 at all. Dr. Cullen once found some nests made completely of 

 straws and stems built up to the height of six or eight inches. 

 When undisturbed the bird invariably lays four eggs. These 

 are of a warm stone-colour, handsomely blotched or streaked 

 with black. Notwithstanding that the nest is generally in an 

 exposed situation, it is not very easy to find ; for the bird never 

 flies directly to or from it. It always runs crouchingly along 

 the ground, with head bent low, for some little way before it 

 takes flight, and in returning it invariably alights first at some 

 distance, and approaches the nest in the same cautious way 

 that it left it. It is a shy and restless bird, and betrays great 

 uneasiness if its nest is approached or its young molested, 

 often trying to entice the intruder away by feigning lame- 

 ness or a broken wing. The young, which run as soon as 

 they are hatched, are at first covered with white down, but 

 marked on the head and shoulders like the old birds. Dr. 

 Cullen says the bill is then quite straight ; but if so, it must 

 very speedily acquire the characteristic curve ; for Mr. Gould, 

 in his ' Birds of Great Britain ' has figured the young three 

 weeks old with unmistakably upturned bills ; and I have be- 

 fore me a young bird from Southern Spain, apparently about 

 the same age, in which the bill is also very decidedly curved. 



If the bill, however, were not straight at first, it would fol- 

 low that the young must either feed immediately they are 

 hatched, after the manner of their parents, or that the latter 



