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 CCCLIII. — 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 
