352 The Avocet 



ander Wilson, the ornithologist, found them breeding on the salt marshes 

 of New Jersey, and perhaps southward. 



In examining the published lists of birds for the various States east 

 of the Mississippi, it is quite common to-day to find mention made of 

 this bird as a "rare transient" or an "occasional visitor." Probably few, 

 if any, are to be found at present breeding east of the Mississippi, except, 

 perhaps in the State of Illinois. Their almost total disappearance from 

 the eastern United States may be attributed entirely to the continuous 

 onslaught which has been made on their ranks by gunners engaged in 

 the shooting of shore-birds. Many Avocets yet remain in the far-western 



States, and they have been known to breed in Texas. 



Apparently they do not breed farther north than 



Saskatchewan. In winter they may be met with along 

 the Gulf Coast of the United States, and on marshy lands to the south- 

 ward. 



As an economic agent in destroying injurious insects or the seeds 

 of troublesome weeds the Avocet cannot be rated high, for it gets its 

 living in or about the water, feeding on such small forms of life as are 

 there obtainable. It is known to eat small snails and water-insects, both 

 in the adult and larval stages. On salty marshes it collects many worms 

 from the muddy water through which it wades. On the other hand no 

 one, apparently, has ever gone so far as to say that the Avocet is inju- 

 rious to any of man's interests. It is deplorable, therefore, that the lakes 

 and water-ways of the Kast should now be deprived of this great wader. 

 Only a few weeks ago I was impressed anew with the beauty of these 

 birds. While passing down the valley of Cane Creek, in southeastern 

 Oregon, a flock of about fifty Avocets arose and indulged in a series of 

 evolutions which even the most casual observer would have paused to 

 watch. In a fairly compact company they flew away for a short dis- 

 tance, then turned and, after coming back almost to the starting point, 



dived toward the earth, arose again perhaps forty 

 Beauty yards in the air, then swung around and came back. 



These maneuvers were repeated at least three times. 

 Their white and black plumage, flashing against the gray sage-brush of 

 the desert-like mountain-side, and sharply relieved as they skimmed over 

 the alkaline creek, made a picture long to be remembered. 



Fortunately for the species, and also for us, the regulations under the 

 Federal Migratory Bird Law now prohibit killing an Avocet. This is 

 but one of the many wise provisions in that statute ; and there is 

 every reason to believe that the enactment of this law bespeaks a brighter 

 day for the Avocet, as well as for many other species of shore-birds that 

 in the past have been sorely persecuted. 



Classification and Distribution 



The Avocet belongs to the Order Limicolcc, and the Family Rccurvirostrida. 

 Its scientific name is Recurvirostra americana. It breeds from eastern Oregon 

 and southern Saskatchewan to southern California, northern Texas, and eastward 

 to the upper Mississippi Valley; and it winters in Texas, Mexico and Guatemala. 



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