OP THE BEITISH ISLANDS. 171 



Genus RECURVI ROSTRA, or Avocets. 



Type, EECUEVIEOSTEA AVOCETTA. 



Recurvirostra, of Linnaeus (1766). The birds comprising the present 

 genus are characterised by combining a long, slender, deeply recurved bill with 

 webbed feet and a hind toe. The wings are long and pointed, the first primary 

 being the longest ; the tail is rounded. The metatarsus is long, but not more than 

 twice that of the middle toe and claw ; a great portion of the tibia is devoid of 

 feathers. The bill is long, weak, and flexible, and recurved for its entire length ; 

 nostrils linear and elongated. 



This genus is composed of four species, which are locally distributed in the 

 Australian, southern Nearctic, Palaearctic, Ethiopian, and Neotropical regions; 

 Oriental region in winter. One species formerly bred in, but is now a rare 

 straggler to, the British Islands. 



The Avocets are dwellers on flat, sandy coasts, marshes, lagoons, and mud- 

 banks. Their flight is airy, graceful, and well-sustained, and on the ground they 

 walk and run with elegant ease. They swim and wade. Their notes are shrill 

 and monotonous. They subsist principally on worms, crustaceans, and aquatic 

 insects. They make scanty nests on the ground, and their eggs, three or four 

 in number, are spotted. They are monogamous, sociable, and gregarious. 



