The Avocet 345 



a "rare transient" or an "occasional visitor." Probably few, if any, are today 

 found breeding east of the Mississippi; the state of Illinois, perhaps, being 

 the single exception. Their almost total disappearance from the eastern 

 United States may be attributable entirely to the continuous onslaught which 

 has been made on their ranks by gunners engaged in the shooting of shore- 

 birds. There are still many Avocets 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 southward. 



As an economic agent in destroying injurious insects or the seeds of trouble- 

 some 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 injurious to any of man's interests. It is 

 deplorable, therefore, that the lakes and waterways of the East 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 com- 

 pact company they flew away for a short distance, then turned, and, after 

 coming back almost to the starting-point, dived toward the earth, arose again 

 perhaps 50 yards in the air, then swung around and came back. These ma- 

 neuvers were repeated at least three times. Their white-and-black plumage, 

 flashing against the gray sage-brush of the desert 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 the Avocet. This is but one 

 of the many wise provisions under the new government 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. 



