AVOCET. 19 



Colorado about May 1; Chicago, 111., average May 6; Heron Lake, 

 Minn., average May 11, earliest May 8, 1889 (Miller); Hallock, Minn., 

 average May 14, earliest May 9, 1896 (Peabody); Reaburn, Manitoba, 

 average May 21, earliest May 16, 1898 (Wemyss); Osier, Saskatche- 

 wan, May 19, 1893 (Colt). 



The earliest eggs in northern Iowa are deposited about May 20 

 (Anderson); eggs nearly hatched have been found in southern Sas- 

 katchewan June 7 (Macoun); young just hatching, June 16, at Lake 

 Tahoe, California (Bliss), and at the same stage June 22, at Fort 

 Klamath, Oregon (Merrill). 



Fall migration. — The Wilson phalarope moves southward so early 

 that most have left the breeding grounds soon after the middle of 

 August; the last seen at Lanesboro, Minn., in 1885, was on September 

 13 (Hvoslef). The species continues passing through Mexico until 

 October (Ferrari-Perez). 



Avocet. Recurvirostra americana Gmel. 



Breeding range. — The central western United States is the prin- 

 cipal summer home of the avocet, but its breeding range extends 

 north to central Wisconsin (Green Bay; Kumlien), southern Mani- 

 toba (Souris; Thompson), southern Saskatchewan (Osier; Colt), 

 southern Mackenzie (Fort Rae; Ross), and central Oregon (Haines; 

 Haines). It breeds south to northern Iowa (Hawarden; Anderson), 

 northwestern Texas (Oberholser), southeastern New Mexico (Carls- 

 bad; Bailey), and to Orange County, Calif. (Santa Ana; Grinnell). 

 Many years ago this species was not rare on the Atlantic coast, and a 

 few are known to have nested at Egg Harbor, N. J. (Giraud). At 

 the present time it is a very rare visitor to any part of the Atlantic 

 coast, and has scarcely been seen in New Jersey for the last twenty 

 years. At various times in the past the avocet has been recorded 

 along the coast from Florida (Cory) to southern New Brunswick 

 (Chamberlain) ; one of the latest records is that of three birds seen 

 September 13, 1896, at Ipswich Neck, Mass. (Kennard), and a single 

 bird taken October 8, 1903, at St. Marys, Ga. (Arnow). The species 

 occurs in the interior east of the Mississippi River, as a rare visitor 

 from Louisiana (Audubon) to Ontario (Fleming), but is known to 

 breed only in Wisconsin. 



Winter range. — The avocet winters abundantly on the coast of 

 Texas (Merrill) and in southern California (Newberry); sparingly 

 through Chihuahua and Lower California and thence south to Gua- 

 temala (Salvin). During migration it has wandered a few times to 

 Cuba (Gundlach), Jamaica (Gosse), and twice even to Barbados 

 (Feilden). 



Spring migration. — The month of April is the time of most activity 

 in spring migration. By the latter part of this month the birds have 

 reached South Dakota, and their average date of arrival at Great 



