24 AMERICAN AVOSET. 



rounded feathers. Tongue short in proportion to the length of the bill, 

 slender, tapering to a point; oesophagus wide, considerably dilated at the 

 lower part of the neck; stomach an oblong gizzard of moderate strength, its 

 epithelium hard, longitudinally rugous; intestine long and of moderate 

 width; coeca rather long. 



AMERICAN AVOSET. 



Recurvirostra Americana, Linn. 



PLATE CCCLIIL— Adult Male, and Young in Winter. 



The fact of this curious bird's breeding in the interior of our country 

 accidentally became known to me in June 1814. I was at the time travel- 

 ling on horseback from Henderson to Vincennes in the State of Indiana. As 

 I approached a large shallow pond in the neighbourhood of the latter town, 

 I was struck by the sight of several Avosets hovering over the margins and 

 islets of the pond, and although it was late, and I was both fatigued and 

 hungry, I could not resist the temptation of endeavouring to find the cause 

 of their being so far from the sea. Leaving my horse at liberty, I walked 

 toward the pond, when, on being at once assailed by four of the birds, I felt 

 confident that they had nests, and that their mates were either sitting or 

 tending their young. The pond, which was about two hundred yards in 

 length, and half as wide, was surrounded by tall bulrushes extending to some 

 distance from the margin. Near its centre were several islets, eight or ten 

 yards in length, and disposed in a line. Having made my way through the 

 rushes, I found the water only a few inches deep; but the mud reached above 

 my knees, as I carefully advanced towards the nearest island. The four 

 birds kept up a constant noise, remained on wing, and at times dived through 

 the air until close to me, evincing their displeasure at my intrusion. My 

 desire to shoot them however was restrained by my anxiety to study their 

 habits as closely as possible; and as soon as I had searched the different 

 inlets, and found three nests with eggs, and a female with her brood, I re- 

 turned to my horse, and proceeded to Vincennes, about two miles distant. 

 Next morning at sunrise I was snugly concealed amongst the rushes, with a 

 fair view of the whole pond. In about an hour the male ceased to fly over 



