AVOCET. 



UMJCQLM. 



299 



SCOLOPACIDtf. 



RECURVIROSTRA AVOCETTA, Linnaeus*. 



THE AYOCET. 

 Recurvirostra avocetta. 



REOURVIROSTRA, Linnceus-^. Beak very long, slender, weak, depressed 

 throughout its whole length, flexible, pointed, and curving upwards ; the upper 

 mandible grooved along the upper surface ; under mandible grooved along the 

 side. Nostrils on the upper surface of the beak, near its base, linear, long. 

 Legs slender, long, great portion of the tibia naked ; three toes in front, hind 

 toe small, articulated high up on the tarsus, the anterior toes united as far as 

 the second articulation, by a membrane, the margin of which is concave. Wings 

 pointed ; the first quill-feather the longest in the wing. 



THE AVOCET is certainly a singular-looking bird, especially 

 in reference to its beak, which is curved upwards, and is 



* Recurvirostra Avocetta, Linnseus, Syst. Nat. Ed. 12. i. p. 256 (1766). 

 t loc. cit. 



