AVOCET 337 



alarm the birds nesting at a distance leave the flock while those having 

 nests in the immediate vicinity remain and fly about in long ellipses, 

 with the object of concern at the center. If the intruder still remains 

 and approaches closer to the nest the males join with the females. If 

 the intruder persists in his approach to the nest the length of the 

 elliptic flight is gradually lessened until the birds are flying about 

 almost within reach. A ruse of the species is for a nesting bird to 

 hover at some point apart from its nest. If successful, it is repeated 

 at a still greater distance from the nest. At times the males employ 

 the weU known broken-wing ruse to lead intruders from the immediate 

 vicinity of the nest. 



The young birds have a fine wiry ' ' peep, ' ' inaudible beyond a few 

 feet (Nelson, 1877, p. 43). They are escorted to the edge of the water 

 and feed there, sometimes drifting out on the surface (Sanford, 

 Bishop and Van Dyke, 1903, p. 329). Until they are fully fledged 

 their time is spent in marshy land. About three weeks after hatching 

 they are able to fly (Nelson, 1877, p. 42) . 



The molt is evidently accomplished early in the season in Cali- 

 fornia, as an apparently adult female taken at Bear Lake, San Ber- 

 nardino Mountains, on July 28, 1905, is in the full gray winter 

 plumage. The spring molt into the bright nuptial plumage is entirely 

 completed by the time the birds arrive within our territory. 



The food of the Wilson Phalarope differs markedly 'from that of 

 the other two species, because of the inland habitat which the bird 

 frequents. It does not confine itself to aquatic forms, such as snails, 

 but eats a great variety of insects, including many terrestrial forms 

 (Barrows, 1912, p. 168). Mosquitoes, crane-fly larvae, leaf beetles, 

 water beetles (Dytiscidae), and bill-bugs (Calandridae) have been 

 found in stomachs of this species (McAtee, 1911a). 



The Wilson Phalarope, although widely distributed, is, with us, 

 by no means a common species. Its limited area of summer distribu- 

 tion in California affects a region but sparsely settled, and there is 

 no evidence to show that its numbers have been reduced. The small 

 size of the bird and the fact that it is a forager upon insects, in many 

 cases frequenting cultivated flelds, would seem to justify its permanent 

 exclusion from the category of true game birds. 



Avocet 



Recurvirostra americana Gmelin 



Other names — American Avoset; California Avocet; Yellow Snipe; Irish 

 Snipe; Blue-stocking; White Curlew; Becurvirostra occidentalis. 



Desckiption — Adults, both sexes, in late spring and summer: Area around 

 base of bill and around eye, whitish, not sharply defined; rest of head, neck. 



