SCOLOPACID.'E 



545 



.V - .-^/nr^'<^~ 



THE AVOCET. 



ReCURVI ROSTRA AVOCETTA, Liiinaius. 



This remarkable bird was formerly a regular summer-visitor to our 

 shores, breeding in considerable numbers in such suitable localities 

 as the coast and estuaries of the Humber district, Lincolnshire, Nor- 

 folk and Suffolk. Reclamation of fen-land gradually circumscribed 

 its haunts ; a large colony at Salthouse was destroyed, as Mr. J. H. 

 Gurney was informed, in consequence of the demand (especially 

 from Newcastle) for Avocet's feathers for dressing artificial flies ; 

 and egg-collectors also contributed to the decrease of the species, 

 which by 1824 had probably ceased to nest in England. Small flocks 

 still arrive in May, and occasionally in autumn, but the former 

 are never allowed to breed, for the amasser of British-killed speci- 

 mens offers to the local gunners inducements which far exceed the 

 amount of any fine and costs that would be imposed, even in the 

 problematical event of the offender's conviction under the feeble 

 Wild Birds' Preservation Act. On the south coast the Avocet 

 used to nest on the flat shores of Kent and Sussex, to which it is 

 now only a visitor ; while on the west side it is of rare occurrence, 



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