THE AVOCET 



By T. GILBERT PEARSON 



THE NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF AUDUBON SOCIETIES 

 Educational Leaflet No. 88 



Among the American shore-birds the one that stands out as the most 

 showy of them all is the Avocet. It is, indeed, of most striking appear- 

 ance. Its white body, and black, white-striped wings, render it conspic- 

 uous at a great distance, and its large size has made it a coveted target 

 for gunners ever since the time when white hunters in America first 

 began to go afield. 



From the point of its bill to the end of its tail the Avocet measures 



v. V 



THE AMERICAN AVOCET 

 Photographed by H. T. Bohlman 



sixteen to eighteen inches, and when the wings are spread the distance 

 from tip to tip is fully twenty inches. The long. Upward-curving bill is 

 a form extremely unusual among birds ; and the partially webbed feet 

 enable it to swim with ease, when, in searching for its food, it advances 

 into water win-re the bottom is beyond the reach of its long legs. The 

 color of its feet and legs explains the name "Blue Shanks" by which it 

 is known to many sportsmen. 



While searching for wild ducks' nests in the marshes of the Klamath 

 River, in southern Oregon, in company with William L. Finlev and 

 I\. I '.nice Horsfall, I came upon several groups of these magnificent- 



