SCOLOFACID^. dio 



In Cornwall the Avocct is also very rare, as Mr. Ilodd could mention 

 only two ; one of these, shot close to the Land's End, 13th Sept., 

 1S47, he examined in the flesh. Since the publication of his book, a third 

 Cornish example has been recorded by Mr. H. P. Hart (Zool. 1880, 

 p. 487), which was shot on the river Fal, near Truro, August 21st, 1880. 

 We are not aware of any Somerset Avocet ; but in Dorsetshire a few have 

 occurred, the most recent one mentioned by Mr. Mansel-Pleydell having 

 been obtained at Poole in 1869. 



Avocets appear to be nowhere numerous on the Continent, except in the 

 marshes of Southern llussia. The long recurved beak of the bird is used 

 for the purpose of scooping the mud in search of worms ; zigzag lines will 

 be found traced on the sand and ooze wherever anj- Avocets have been 

 feeding. A flock of Avocets is very noisy, and in old times the birds were 

 called " Yelpers " by the fenmen, on account of their vociferous cries. 

 The birds employ their long legs in wading deep into the water, aud it 

 is said that they also swim with ease, the toes being webbed. 



Black-winged Stilt. Himantopus candidus, Bonnat. 



An accidental visitor, of extremely rare occurrence, l^o specimen has 

 been obtained in Devonshire within the last half-century. 



Two are recorded by Dr. E. Moore ; one occurred at Slapton Ley, according to Mr. 

 Gosling, and the other was in the possession of Mr. C'omyns (Trans. Plyui. Inst. 183 ', 

 p. 331 ; and Mag. Nat. Hist. 1837, p. 322). Dr. A. a. C. Tucker includes the Black- 

 winged Stilt in his list of some rare birds discovered near Ashburton. A Mr. Stephens 

 assured Mr. Walter Moyle that one of these birds (Himcmfopus) had been shot :it 

 " Br.unpton [(jKO'i/ Braunlon] on the North Sea, in Devonshire" (The works of 

 "Walter Muvle, Esq., in two vols. London, 172(5, Jide llarting, in Rodd's 'Birtlsof 

 Cornwall,' Introduction, p. xxx). 



This curious bird, which derives its name from the extreme and 

 seemingly disproportionate length of its legs, is only a summer visitor to 

 the southern counties of Europe, from Asia and Xortherii Africii, very 

 rarely indeed straying so far north as England. With the exception of 

 the one referred to by Mr. Moyle, the only Devonshire occurrences belong 

 to the south of the county. In Cornwall five were once killed at a shot 

 near Penzance, about the year 1720 (Kodd, ' Eirds of Cornwall,' p. xxx); 

 but the only specimen Mr. Ilodd knew of recent years was one which was 

 shot at the Swanpool, near Falmouth, and recordc-d by Mr. Cocks (' Natu- 

 ralist,' 1851, p. 114). 



We have seen one from Somerset, which was shot near Bridgwater many 

 years ago, and was first in the collection of Mr. Straddling, of Chiltoti 

 Polden, but now belongs to Mr. H. Mathias, of Haverfordwest. On the 

 authority of Mr. A\'. Tlionipsoii, ^Ir. ^Mansel-Pleydell has recorded a iJlack- 

 winged Stilt, which was hhot at Lodmoor, in Dorset, in 18:57. 



