AMERICAN AVOSET. 
tlie sea, in search of worms and marine insects, which 
they scoop out of the mud or sand, and on which 
they leave a semicircular impression from their beaks. 
Although their feet appear calculated for swimming, 
they do not appear to be used for that purpose, but 
rather for support upon the soft mud, from whence 
they obtain their food. Montagu relates an instance 
of one being wounded in the wing, and floating with 
the tide for a considerable distance, when it was taken 
up alive without its ever attempting to swim. They 
frequently, however, wade about up to the belly in 
water. They are very active and lively in their mo- 
tions, and are perpetually moving about. 
AMERICAN AVOSET. 
(Recurvirostra Americana.) 
Re. corpore albo nigroque vario, capite collo pectoreque rufescen- 
tibus, 
Avoset with the body varied with black and white, the head, 
neck, and breast reddish. 
Recurvirostra Americana. Gmel. Syst. Nat. 1 . 693. Lath. Ind. 
Orn. 2. 787. 
Avosetta. Dumpier, Voyage, 3. p. \23.f. 3. 
American Avoset. Penn. Arct. Zool, 2. 241.^^. 21. Lath. Gen. 
Syn. 5. 295.;;^. 92. Leach, Zool. Misc. 2. 114,;?/. 101. 
This is rather larger than the European species, 
but equally elegant in its form : its beak is black : 
the forehead dusky white : the head, neck, and upper 
