THE AVOGET 
By T. GILBERT PEARSON 
I The National Association of Audubon Societies 
Educational Leaflet No. 88 
Among the American shore-birds the one that stands out as the most 
showy of them all is the Avocet. It is, indeed, of most striking appear- 
ance. Its white body, and black, white-striped wings, render it conspic- 
^ uous at a great distance, and its large size has made it a coveted target 
I for gunners ever since the time when white hunters in America first 
began to go afield. 
From the point of its bill to the end of its tail the Avocet measures 
THE AMERICAN AVOGET 
Photographed by H. T. Bohlman 
sixteen to eighteen inches, and when the wings are spread the distance 
from tip to tip is fully twenty inches. The long, upward-curving bill is 
a form extremely unusual among birds ; and the partially webbed feet 
enable it to swim with ease, when, in searching for its food, it advances 
into water where the bottom is beyond the reach of its long legs. The 
color of its feet and legs explains the name “Blue Shanks” by which it 
is known to many sportsmen. 
While searching for wild ducks’ nests in the marshes of the Klamath 
River, in southern Oregon, in company with William L. Finley and 
R. Bruce Horsfall, I came upon several groups of these magnificent 
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