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BULLETIN 1359^ U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



Table 2. — Material identified in the food of the Wilson phalarope as determined 

 from the examination of 106 stomachs, and the number of stomachs in which each 

 item was found — Continued 



Animal Matter — Continued 

 Aeaneida (spiders) 

 Unidentified spiders 



MoLLUSCA (snails) 



Physagyrina 



Planorbissp 



Vegetable Matter — Seeds 



Potamogeton pectinatus (sago pondweed) . 

 Potamogeton sp. (pondweed) 



Vegetable Matter — Seeds — Continued 



Ruppia sp. (widgeon grass) 



Panicum sp. (switch-grass) 



Distichlis spicata (salt grass) 



Scirpus paludosus (bayonet-grass) . 



Scirpus robustus (bulrush) 



Scirpus sp. (bulrush) 



Cyperaceae (sedges) 



Polygonum sp. (smartweed) 



Amaranthus sp. (pigweed) -. 



Galium sp. (cleavers) 



Unidentified seeds... 



Vegetable rubbish.. 



AVOCET 



Recurvirostra americana 



The large, strikingly marked avocet is found in greatest abundance 

 west of the Mississippi River, where it ranges from southern Canada 

 south to the Mexican border. In winter avocets pass south through 

 Mexico as far as Guatemala, some remaining in southern California 

 and on the Gulf coast of Texas. Formerly they were found regularly 

 along the Atlantic coast, but now are known only as stragglers in 

 that region. Avocets are most common at present perhaps in the 

 northern part of the Plains region and the Great Basin. Wherever 

 found they attract attention, even from those ordinarily unobservant 

 of birds. Though the long, slender legs and long neck may seem 

 ungainly, avocets are graceful whether in movement or at rest. Th& 

 bill, which is broad at the base, is flattened and thin, and at the tip 

 is curved upward. The toes are webbed. The long pointed wings 

 are black in contrast to the white of the remainder of the plumage, 

 which in the breeding season is varied by a cinnamon wash on the 

 head and neck. 



Though found at times alone, avocets are habitually gregarious, like 

 many other shorebirds. During the breeding season they gather in 

 colonies and nest on low ground adjacent to ponds, bays, or slow- 

 running channels. Four strongly marked eggs are deposited in a. 

 slight hollow scantily lined with a few bits of grass or weed stems. 

 The sites chosen often are subject to inundation by sudden floods, 

 when the birds scurry about, seemingly in confusion, but in reality 

 working actively to build up the nest in order to support the eggs 

 above the level of the encroaching water. In some cases it may be 

 necessary to erect a structure 12 or 15 inches in height. Weeds, 

 small sticks, bones, or dried bodies of ducks or other birds, feathers, 

 or any other materials available are utilized as building materials. 



Young avocets are able to run about at birth and accompany their 

 parents across the open flats in search of food. A visit to a nesting 

 colony is of the greatest interest to one who enjoys observing birds. 

 Male avocets come flying out with loud calls to meet the intruder, 

 and when he is actually near the nests or young the uproar becomes 

 almost deafening. The adults dart at the head of the supposed 

 enemy, or limp or flutter about, posturing grotesquely. Young birds- 

 are hustled away by parents, with the aid of solicitous neighbors, ta 

 be concealed in the scanty herbage, or piloted far out on the open- 

 flats, where they may be safe from capture. 



