578 



grey, the former slightly variegated with sooty blackish brown ; upper parts otherwise variegated with 

 dark brownish grey and tinged with grey. 



Obs. The winter plumage does not differ from that worn in the summer ; but the young birds before they 

 attain the fully adult dress have the black on the upper parts tinged with brown, and the white portions 

 of the plumage are duller and yellowish. 



The present species inhabits Central and Southern Europe, ranging further north only as a 

 straggler, though it breeds as far north as Denmark. In Africa it is met with down to the 

 Cape of Good Hope, and in Asia as far east as China; but it is not found in the Nearctic 

 Region, where it is replaced by R. americana. 



In Great Britain it is now only known as a rare straggler, though half a century ago it 

 bred in the marshes of Norfolk. It has been recorded from several places on the south and east 

 coasts, but becomes very rare towards the north. Yarrell says that " one or two have been 

 killed in Cornwall, and they were noticed formerly in Gloucestershire and in Shropshire ; four 

 are recorded as having been obtained in Devonshire." It has also been obtained in Dorsetshire. 

 Mr. J. C. Mansel-Pleydell says that " one was shot by Captain Pretor in October 1867, near the 

 ferry bridge which joins the Chesil bank with the mainland; and in the following month another 

 was killed on Lodmoor, and is in Mr. Thompson's possession." One was killed in 1837; and the 

 last known to Mr. Mansel-Pleydell as having been killed in Dorsetshire, was killed at Poole in 

 1869. It used to breed in Sussex, but has not done so for long, being only seen now and then; 

 and its breeding-haunts in Romney Marsh, Kent, have been for many years deserted. Formerly 

 it also bred in considerable numbers on our east coast ; but, owing partly to the drainage of the 

 fens, and still more to the ruthless persecution to which it has been subjected, it has now become 

 exterminated. Mr. Stevenson states (B, of Norf. ii. p. 240) that he has conversed with an 

 octogenarian marshman who remembered the present species breeding in the marshes near 

 Salthouse by hundreds, and used constantly to gather their eggs ; but, according to the same 

 authority, they were last known to breed there between 1822 and 1825, though stragglers from 

 time to time visited their old haunt during passage until 1851, when the marshes were 

 altogether reclaimed. During the last thirty years the Avocet has been only known in Norfolk 

 as a very rare straggler, but one or two examples have been obtained almost every season. 

 Mr. Stevenson writes to me that " the few specimens which are now obtained appear chiefly 

 in May on Breydon flats, near Yarmouth, or in the estuary at Lynn. It has been very scarce 

 during the last six or eight years." It formerly used to breed in Lincolnshire ; and, according 

 to Mr. A. G. More (Ibis, 1865, p. 436), the late Mr. H. Reid, of Doncaster, obtained eggs from 

 the mouth of the Humber as late as about thirty years ago, which appears to be the last 

 instance of its having been found breeding here. In Camden's 'Britannia,' 1806 (fide Southwell, 

 Trans. Norf. & Norw. Nat. Soc. 1870-71, p. 15), it is stated that " opposite Foss-dyke Wash, 

 during summer, are vast numbers of Avosettas, called there Yelpers, from their cry as they hover 

 over the sportsman's head like Lapwings." 



In the north of England it is very rare ; but according to Selby it has occurred at Hartley, 

 in Durham ; and though it has been met with in Scotland, it must be looked on as an extremely 

 rare species. Mr. Robert Gray, who states that it is not found on the west coast of Scotland, 



