486 



PLOVER GROUP. 



with a deliberate step, which may be quickened into a run ; and they fly straight 

 but slowly, with the neck outstretched and the long legs extended beyond the tail 

 Ordinarily silent and far from shy, in the breeding-season these birds utter a cry 

 resembling the syllables, kit, kot, kit, and are most assiduous in endeavouring to 

 lure the intruder away from the vicinity of their nests. In India stilts breed in 

 enormous numbers, laying most of their eggs in June, although in Spain they are 

 at least a month earlier ; one of the favourite haunts being some salt-works near 

 Delhi, where the brine is distributed in shallow pools over acres of ground. The 

 nest varies according to the nature of the locality, being more bulky in moist 



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AVOCETS (i nat. size). 



, ^^^^! 



situations, and sometimes even floating on the water. The four eggs are pear- 

 shapesd, and of a bufiish brown ground-colour, upon which are blackish brown' 

 streaks and blotches, with underlying markings of grey. 



Avocets. Although closely connected with the stilts by two aberrant 



species, it seems on the whole convenient to separate the still more 

 graceful avocets as a genus, under the title of Recurvirostra, the sole distinctive 

 character applicable to all the members being the more fully webbed feet. In the 

 more typical forms, however, such as the common avocet (R avocetta), the beak is 

 strongly curved upwards at the extremity, the webbed feet are furnished with a 

 small first toe, and the plumage of the upper-parts is pied. The connection with 



