THE AVOSETTA. 



189 



burning coal. When they dispose themselves 

 to feed , their cry ceases ; and then they dis- 

 perse over a whole marsh, in silence and as- 

 siduity. Their manner of feeding is very 

 singular : the bird thrusts down its head, so 

 that the upper convex side of the bill shall 

 only touch the ground ; and in this position 

 the animal appears, as it were, standing upon 

 its head. In this manner it paddles and 

 moves the bill about, and seizes whatever fish 

 or insect happens to offer. For this purpose 

 the upper chap is notched at the edges, so as 

 to hold its prey with the greater security. 

 Catesby, however, gives a different account of 

 their feeding. According to him, they thus 

 place the upper chap undermost, and so work 

 about, in order to pick up a seed from the 

 bottom of the water, that resembles millet: 

 but as in picking up this they necessarily also 

 suck in a great quantity of mud, their bill is 

 toothed at the edges in such a manner as to 

 let out the mud while they swallow the grain. 



Their time of breeding is according to the 

 climate in which they reside: in North Ame- 

 rica they breed in our summer ; on the other 

 side of the line, they take the most favourable 

 season of the year. They build their nests in 

 extensive marshes, and where they are in no 

 danger of a surprise. The nest is not less 

 curious than the animal that builds it: it is 

 raised from the surface of the pool about a 

 foot and a half, formed of mud scraped up to- 

 gether, and hardened by the sun, or the heat 

 of the bird's body ; it resembles a truncated 

 cone, or one of the pots which we see placed 

 in chimneys ; on the top it is hollowed out to 

 the shape of the bird, and in that cavity the 

 female lays her eggs without any lining but 

 the well-cemented mud that forms the sides of 

 the building. She always lays two eggs, and 

 no more ; and. as her legs are immoderately 

 long, she straddles on the nest, while her legs 

 hang down, one on each side, into the water. 



The young ones are a long while before 

 they are able to fly ; but they run with amaz- 

 ing swiftness. They are sometimes caught ; 

 and, very different from the old ones, suffer 

 themselves to be carried home, and are tamed 

 very easily. In five or six days they become 

 familiar, eat out of the hand, and drink a sur- 

 prising quantity, of sea-water. But though 

 they are easily rendered domestic, they are 

 not reared without the greatest difficulty ; for 

 they generally pine away, for want of their 

 natural supplies, and die in a short time. 

 While they are yet young, their colours are 

 very different from those lively tints they ac- 

 quire with age. In their first year they are 

 covered with plumage of a white colour, 

 mixed with gray : in the second year the 

 whole body is white, with here and there 

 a slight tint of scarlet ; and the great co- 



vert feathers of his wings are black ; the 

 third year the bird acquires all its beauty; 

 the plumage of the whole body is scarlet, ex- 

 cept some of the feathers in the wings, that 

 still retain their sable hue. Of these beauti- 

 ful plumes the savages make various orna- 

 ments; and the bird is sometimes skinned by 

 the Europeans, to make muffs. But these 

 have diminished in their price, since we have 

 obtained the art of dying feathers of the 

 brightest scarlet. 



CHAP. 



THE AVOSETTA, OR SCOOPER ; AND THE 

 COURIRA, OR RUNNER. 



THE extraordinary shape of the Avosetta's 

 bill might incline us to wish for its history ; 

 and yet in that we are not able to indulge the 

 reader. Natural historians have hitherto, like 

 ambitious monarchs, shown a greater fondness 

 for extending their dominions, than cultivat- 

 ing what they possess. While they have 

 been labouring to add new varieties to their 

 catalogues, they have neglected to study the 

 history of animals already known. 



The avosetta is chiefly found in Italy, and 

 now and then comes over into England.' It 

 is about the size of a pigeon, is a pretty up- 

 right bird, and has extremely long legs for 

 its size. But the most extraordinary part of 

 its figure, and that by which it may be distin- 

 guished from all others of the feathered tribe, 

 is the bill, which turns up like a hook, in an 

 opposite direction to that of the hawk or the 

 parrot. This extraordinary bill is black, flat, 

 sharp, and flexible at the end, and about three 

 inches and a half long. From its being bare 

 a long way above the knee, it appears that it 

 lives and wades in the waters. It has a chirp- 

 ing pert note, as we are told ; but with its 

 other habits we are entirely unacquainted. I 

 have placed it, from its slender figure, among 

 the cranes ; although it is web-footed, like the 

 duck. It is one of those birds of whose his- 

 tory we are yet in expectation. 1 



1 The Avosets of Europe and America prefer cold and 

 temperate climates to hot countries. Their migration! 



