AMERICAN AVOCET — AMERICAN WOODCOCK. 129 



Family RECURVIROSTRID^. 



Genus RECURVIROSTRA Linn^us. 



RECURVIROSTRA AMERICANA Gm. 



91. American Avocet (225) 



White ; back and wings, with much black ; head and neck, cinnanion-bi-own 

 in the adult, ashy in the young ; bill, black, 3 j to gape ; legs, blue ; eyes, red. 

 Length, 16-18; wing, 7-8; tail, 3|; tarsus, 3J. 



Hab. — Temperate Noi'th America, from the vSaskatchewan and Great Slave 

 Lake south, in winter, to Guatemala and the West Indies. Rare in the Eastern 

 Province. 



Eggs, three or four, variable in size and marking, usually brownish-drab, 

 marked with spots of chocolate-brown. 



This is anothei' delicate inland wader, rare on the sea coast, but 

 abundant in the Mississippi Valley. Stragglers appear occasionally 

 at far distant points, and are at once identified by their peculiar 

 markings and awl-shaped bill. I am aware of three individuals 

 having been taken at different times at Rond Eau, on the north 

 shore of Lake Erie, but these are all I have heard of in Ontario. 

 In Manitoba it is spoken of as being exceedingly rare, but it is very 

 abundant around the saline ponds and lakes in the North-West 

 (Macoun). 



According to Dr. Coues, "It is more abundant than elsewhere in 

 the interior of the United States along the Mississippi Valley, and 

 thence westward, in all suitable localities, to the Rocky Mountains." 



Its preference for salt or brackish waters is indicated by its 

 abundance at Great Salt Lake, in Utah, and about the alkaline 

 waters of Dakota. 



Family SCOLOPACID^. Sxipes, Sandpipers, etc. 



Genus PHILOHELA Gray. 



PHILOHELA MINOR (Gmel.). 



92. American Woodcock. (228) 



Above, variegated and harmoniously blended black, brown, gray and russet ; 

 below, pale warm brown of variable shade. Length, male, 10-11 ; female, 11-12; 

 extent, 16-18; wing, 4i-5; bill, 2^-3; tarsus, l^; middle toe and claw, l^; 

 weight, .5-9 ounces. 



Hab. — Eastern Province of North America, north to the British Provinces, 

 9 



