THE AVOCET 97 
color in the wing. Under wing coverts white. 
Eyes and bill black; feet pale orange. 
The female is not so brightly colored, lacking 
much of the light red, which in her dress is 
replaced with dark brown. The fall bird of 
either sex is not so brilliantly attired as is the 
spring migrant, but even then is a beautiful 
piece of coloring. The length of this species 
is between eight and nine inches; the extent of 
wing varies from sixteen to eighteen inches. 
Besides the present species the Pacific coast 
boasts another—the Black-headed Turnstone, 
closely akin to our bird. The two are chums 
where their ranges come together, from South- 
ern California northward. 
THE AVOCET. 
(Recurvirostra americana.) 
This striking and graceful bird, like many of 
his family, is a lover of the Great West and 
so is not often taken in New England. It is 
far less common on the eastern half of our 
continent than beyond the Rockies and in the 
northeast is an exceptionally rare visitor. 
In their chosen range they favor the salt 
