The American Avocet 



especially so at other times. Their notes consist chiefly of simple shrill 

 cries, neither very musical nor yet strident, ' 'crick-crick-crick-crick" or 

 creek-creek — something, in fact, after the order of the Curlews, with many 

 excited quaverings beside. 



It is, however, when its nest is threatened that the bird displays its 

 utmost charms. It is anxious at the outset to distract attention, even 

 before discovery of the eggs is certain; and as one pokes about in a flat- 



Taken near Los Banos 



YOUNG BLADES 



Photo by the Author 



bottomed boat or canoe, a half dozen of them at once may be seen hoist- 

 ing signals of distress, and inviting pursuit. One example may suffice. 

 With splendid light and well equipped for photographic appreciation, we 

 put the canoe against a tiny reef upon which we saw a nest with three 

 eggs. The mother bird had flushed at a hundred yards, but seeing our 

 position she flew toward us and dropped into the water some fifty feet 

 away. Here she lifted a black wing in simulation of maimed stiffness, and 

 flopped and floundered away with the aid of the other one. Seeing that 

 the ruse failed, she ventured nearer and repeated the experiment, lifting 

 now one wing and now both in token of utter helplessness. After a while 

 the male joined her, and we had the painful spectacle of a crippled family, 

 whose members were uttering most doleful cries of distress, necessitated 

 apparently by their numerous aches and breaks. 



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