AVOCETS AND STILTS 



(225) Recurvirostra americana 



Gmel. 

 (Lat., bent upward, bill^l 



AVOCET. Bill long, slender and 

 curved upward. Legs long, dull 

 blue. Feet webbed. Feathers on 

 the under parts very thick and duck- 

 like. Ads. in summer — Plumage 

 as shown. In winter with none of 

 the rusty wash on the head. Young 

 birds are very similar to winter 

 adults but have more or less rusty 

 edging to the feathers on the back 

 and wings. L., 17.00; W., 9.00; 

 Tar,, 3.7s; B., 3,75. iV«/ ~ A de- 

 pression in the ground, often in 

 marshy places; three to fi\-e oli\'e- 

 buff eggs, heavily spotted with 

 black, 1.90 X 1.30. 



Range — Breeds from central Wis., 

 la., Te.xas and southern Cal., north 

 to Manitoba and Ore. Casual in 

 eastern U. S. 



feeding about the edges of pools or wading into the water 

 up to their bellies and feeding from the surface. As with 

 the other phalaropes, the female of this species is in most 

 respects "the man of the house"; she makes all the advances 

 during the mating season, and often several of them unfort- 

 unately take a liking to the same swain, with the result 

 that the strongest and handsomest one usually gets him. 



Family RECURVIROSTRIDiE. Avocets and Stilts 



A small Family comprising species with very long, slender 

 legs and very slender bills which may be either straight or 

 upturned. The plumage underneath is thickened as on 

 water birds. The feet are either webbed or semipalmate and 

 all the species comprising the Family can swim quite well. 



AVOCETS are quite remarkable in the amount of curva- 

 ture of their upturned bills, which are very slender and as 

 flexible as whalebone. The plumage on their under parts is 

 exceedingly close and duck-like, and is impervious to water. 



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