2GO 



A V O C E T. 



The middle line of its operations is the centre oF 

 the run or small water course, or hollow in the ooze of 

 the flat beach, as it may be ; audit plays or swings upon 

 that as it moves along. In order to have a more 

 perfect understanding of its operations, we shall sup- 

 pose that it arrives on the wing, from its nest or other 

 resting place, and alights at the lower part of the 

 run. It, of course, prefers proceeding against the 

 stream where there is running water, because the cur- 

 rent is always bringing food to it, and also assists it 

 in the capture. It alights in the middle with its head 

 to the sttcam, and the one foot a little in advance of 

 the other. This position of the feet throws the axis 

 of the body obliquely across the stream, with the 

 head inclined to that side on which the foot is furthest 

 in the rear. It then stretches and depresses the 

 neck, and gives it -a twist, so that the extremity of the 

 bill, which is on a level with the ooze, is turned to 

 the other side. The foot furthest -in advance is the 

 pivot upon which it is to turn in making the stroke 

 which scoops one curve. Then it slowly advances 

 the rearmost foot, which elevates the hinder part of 

 the body, depresses the fore part, and throws the sup- 

 port on the advanced foot; while, supported upon 

 that, and moved by the lever power of the other as it 

 is brought forward, the axis of the body is brought to 

 cross the run obliquely in the opposite direction to 

 the position at commencement : by this motion the 

 bill is made to scoop a curve from that side of the 

 run where the foot was in the rear at starting to the 

 opposite side ; and by the time that that foot has 

 m ived the length of its half stretch in front of the 

 other and been planted, the fore part of the body is 

 elevated and the hind part depressed, so that the bill 

 is raised to the surface of the ooze by the action of 

 the body alone. The head and bill are then elevated 

 a little for the purpose of conveying to the gullet the 

 food which the bill may have taken during the scoop. 

 The food is always taken with the part of the bill near 

 the point, or that part which is flat while scooping ; 

 and as the curvature of the bill favours the progress 

 of the food towards the gullet, the swallowing is an 

 easy matter, and does not require much elevation 

 of the bill or head. The advanced foot is not brought 

 forward beyond that position at which it is perpendi- 

 cular, so that the body can swing forward, and be 

 depressed anteriorly by it dur'ng the scoop. 



In this way the feet arc advanced alternately, and 

 the bill at each movement scoops its curve in advance 

 of the moving foot ; th ;t is to say, from the side on 

 which the foot is moved to that on which the planted 

 foot is the centre of motion. Of course the scoops 

 are alternately in opposite directions from left to 

 right when the left foot is moved, and from right to 

 left when the right is moved. 



The motion of the bird in feeding is thus quite as 

 unique as the form of its bill. Perhaps there is no 

 bird which feeds so much by the action of Its whole 

 body; and there are certainly few, if any, whose mo- 

 tions in feeding are so graceful, or display so much 

 readily seen and easily comprehended science. 



And when we consider the bill, and at the same 

 time the manner in which it is used, all our precon- 

 ceived notions of its awkwardness vanish ; and we 

 find that it is not only the best form, but the only 

 form that could answer the purpose. A bird with a 

 bill crooked the other way, as the beaks of rapacious 

 birds are crooked, or a straight one, or even one with 

 a slight curvature upwards, could take up nothing in 



scooping,and consequently would be of no use to the 

 avocet; so that if the bird had not its specific form, 

 it could not have its present habit. So ready is the 

 recurved bill to take up substances, that, small peb- 

 bles are often found in the stomach upon dissection, 

 which the bird takes up along with its food. From 

 the nature of both the food and the stomach these 

 should not be so much required as they are by the 

 gallinuc and other gizzard birds, which live much upon 

 vegetable seeds ; but, still they way, to a certain ex- 

 tent, aid the progress of digestion, in grinding the 

 crusts of shrimps and the shells of mollusca, the 

 smaller species of which in net form part of the 

 food of the bird, as they abound in those places where 

 it feeds. 



So well is the bill of the avocet formed for being 

 a scoop, that when a mechanic would make an effec- 

 tive one, he in so far imitates the same curve, even 

 though he never heard of the avocet, and knows 

 nothing of its structure or mode of action. At 

 bleaching grounds, and other places where it is 

 required to throw water to a great distance, and with 

 a certain aim, by means of scoops, those scoops 

 always have their trough or containing part, lonsr, 

 narrow, and recurved ; and if a straight one of the 

 same dimensions were tried against the recurved one, 

 it would not be found half so effective. The more, 

 too, that the curvature of the scoop resembles that 

 of the avocet's bill, a scoop of the same dimensions 

 and weight lifts the more, and throws it the farther. 

 That is easily explained : the use of the curvature is 

 to resist the centrifugal force of the water, and that 

 force does not act at all against the upper part of 

 the scoop, but it acts powerfully against the part 

 near the point. The curve resists that force till the 

 whole has got the impetus necessary for sending the 

 water to a distance, while the straight scoop begins 

 to spill the instant that the water acquires a mo- 

 mentum. Thus we have a proof of the efficiency of 

 the avocet's bill, in the fact of its being imitated by 

 mechanics without their knowing it. 



Avocets are birds of retirement, birds which have 

 their haunts far from the ordinary dwellings of man, 

 and as they are birds which are "wholly unprovided 

 with weapons even of defence, they must find their 

 safety in seclusion and concealment. Hence they 

 flit before the progress of improvement. When 

 drainage, and planting, and culture invade the fen, 

 they are the signal for these birds to be gone ; 

 and tvhen once they depart, they do not return to 

 the cultivated country. They are birds which, even 

 in proportion to their limited numbers, are probably 

 more rarely seen than most other species. Marsh 

 birds which do not swim, or run fleetly, or are 

 powerful and much on the wing are, indeed, in 

 general hiders ; but perhaps there are few of them 

 so much so as the avocet. 



One species, the common avocet (Eecurvirostra 

 avocettft), is still found in some parts of the fenny 

 shores of England ; but it is rare, and appears, of late 

 years, to he rapidly passing away ; so that at present 

 it is merely a remnant, and in the course of a short 

 time it may be only a memory. In the season when 

 they are captured, Leadenhall market is perhaps a 

 better place to seek for the fen birds of England 

 than the fens themselves, especially to those who 

 have not much leisure or knowledge of fens, and 

 wish merely for the birds and not for their manners. 

 Now, up to about the year 1820, the avocet was not 



