198 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. xiv. 



My companion, after some moments of breathless silence, 

 remarked in ecstasy : " I don't care if I die now ; I never 

 guessed it would be like this ! " Terns added their cries to 

 the general uproar. Godwits screamed, and fussy little 

 Kentish Plover scurried over the mud. A solemn group of 

 Oystercatchers, about fifty in number, remained silent and 

 motionless ; it was the hour of their evening meditations. 

 These wary old birds eyed us with alert intelligence, but 

 maintained a dignified and non-committal attitude. 



The next day I took my first photographs of Avocets ; 

 it rained all the time, and the results were poor ; it was, 

 however, an intense satisfaction to me just to sit and watch 

 the birds. I had the whole colony under observation, and 

 my own bird in particular ; for some minutes she stood near 

 the nest, a beautiful picture of indecision, perfect in outline 

 and exquisite in her dazzling white and black plumage. 

 Now and again she lifted one slender steel-blue leg and held 

 it flexed ; after a few seconds this foot was firmly planted a 

 little in advance of the other, and so by very slow steps she 

 drew nearer. Her mate disapproved of this loitering and 

 ran to and fro along a bank, with outstretched wings and a 

 truculent air ; finally he drove her to the nest. She moved 

 away a few feet at the first click of the shutter, but after the 

 first surprise nothmg alarmed her. Rain fell heavily, and the 

 wind rose — a combination of circumstances which induced 

 the Avocet to sit tight. As both sexes incubate, I waited on, 

 hoping to see the birds change places, but in this I was dis- 

 appointed. The male in his eagerness to brood is said gently 

 to insert his long curved bill beneath the female's body 

 if she refuses to move. 



It was a week before I could visit this colony again ; by 

 that time most of the Avocets had hatched off their broods, 

 except those nesting on inaccessible islets with the Terns. 

 The whole scene was changed. Numbers of small leggy 

 chicks, in plumage resembling young Nightjars, were running 

 about in the water. At first the young birds peck food 

 directly from the ooze. The bill is short and almost straight, 

 but there is a slight upward curve. As this seems to be a 

 disputed point, I can only quote from my notes made on the 

 spot. " Long steel-blue legs, slightly upcurved bill, with 

 the egg-tooth still adhering."* I don't think I could have 



* Since this article was in tlie press I have had a letter from Herr 

 Jacob P. Thijsse confirming this statement. Hs says, '•' At first the 

 bill may seem quite straight, bnt still there is a suggestion of a very 

 slight upward curve. Perhaps we might describe the bill of the very 

 young Avocet as ' tip-tilted.'" — E.L.T. 



