AVOCET. , : 19 
~ Colorado about May 1; Chicago, Ill., average May 6; Heron Lake, 
Minn., average May 11, earliest May 8, 1889 (Miller); Hallock, Minn., 
average May 14, earliest May 9, 1896 (Peabody); Reaburn, Manitoba, 
average May 21, earliest May 16, 1898 (Wemyss); Osler, Saskatche- 
wan, May 19, 1893 (Colt). 
The earliest eggs in northern Iowa are deposited about May 20 
(Anderson); eggs nearly hatched have been found in southern Sas- 
katchewan June 7 (Macoun); young just hatching, June 16, at Lake 
Tahoe, California (Bliss), and at the same stage June 22, at Fort 
Klamath, Qregon (Merrill). 
Fall magration.—The Wilson phalarope moves southward so sil 
that most have left the breeding grounds soon after the middle of 
August; the last seen at Lanesboro, Minn., in 1885, was on September. 
13 (Hvoslef). The species continues passing through Mexico until 
Ontabst (Ferrari-Perez). . 
Avocet. Recurvirostra americana Gmel. 
Breeding range.—The central western United States is the prin- 
cipal summer home of the avocet, but its breeding range extends 
north to central Wisconsin (Green Bay; Kumlien), southern Mani- 
toba. (Souris; Thompson), southern Saskatchewan (Osler; Colt), 
southern Mackenzie (Fort Rae; Ross), and central Oregon (Haines; 
Haines). It breeds south to northern Iowa (Hawarden; Anderson), 
northwestern Texas (Oberholser), southeastern New Mexico (Carls- 
bad; Bailey), and to Orange ' County, Calif. (Santa Ana; Grinnell). 
Many years ago this species was not rare on the Atlantic coast, and a 
few are known to have nested at Egg Harbor, N. J. (Giraud). At 
the present time it is a very rare visitor to any part of the Atlantic 
coast, and has scarcely been seen in New Jersey for the last twenty 
years. At various times in the past the avocet has been recorded 
- along the coast from Florida (Cory) to southern New Brunswick 
(Chamberlain); one of the latest records is that of three birds seen 
September 13, 1896, at Ipswich Neck, Mass. (Kennard), and a single 
bird taken October 8, 1903, at St. Marys, Ga. (Arnow). The species 
occurs in the interior east of the Mississippi River, as a rare visitor 
from Louisiana (Audubon) to Ontario (Fleming), but is- known to 
breed only. in Wisconsin. 
Winter range.—The avocet winters abundantly on the coast of 
Texas (Merrill) and in southern California (Newberry); sparingly 
through Chihuahua and Lower California and thence south to Gua- 
temala (Salvin). During migration it has wandered a few times to 
Cuba (Gundlach), Jamaica (Gosse), and twice even to Barbados 
(Feilden). | 
Spring migration.—The month of April ‘is the time of most activity: 
in spring migration. By the latter part of this month the birds have 
reached South ‘Dakott, one their average date of arrival at Great 
