368 SNIPES. 



so extensively palmated as to have induced the early systematists 

 t© place them amongst the swimming birds; nevertheless, this 

 structure is an admirable provision for enabling them to traverse 

 the soft and yielding mud in which they find their food. 



The nest is generally formed of dry grasses, seaweeds, and 

 small twigs, heaped up to the thickness of several inches, and 

 placed among thick tufts of grass in the neighbourhood of shallow 

 water. The eggs arc four in number. 



p^=^*-;-n- 



Fig. 1S4.— The Scooi-i.no .-Yvoctr {^Reciirvira^tra Avocetta). 



The typical species is — 



The Scooping Avocet {Rcairvirostra Avocctta). The upcur\-ed form 

 of the bill, which gives so singular an appearance to this bird, is most remark- 

 able, being unsuited to probe the ground, like that of the snipe or woodcock, 

 or to break the shell of ordinary-sized mollusks ; the slightest frost, therefore, 

 drives the avocet to the oozy muddy flats of estuaries, bays, and similar situ- 

 ations, where it can patter about with its wide-webbed feet, and gather small 

 crustaceans and sea-worms. Those who have seen a stork or a crane with a 

 frog at the tip of its long mandibles and with an upward movement of the 

 head drop it into its throat, will have a good idea of the actions of the avocet 

 when it has captured a small shrimp, a marine insect, or any other small object 

 upon which it lives, and will at once perceive that with such a peculiarly-formed 

 beak it could not feed in any other manner. 



