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HABITS of ' The avocet. 
In the system of the feathered tribes, the Avocets stand alone, forming not 
only a well marked genus, but a very distinct family, whether we make their 
structure or their habits the basis of our judgment. The parts of their structure 
harmonize with the use which is made of them, in that beautiful manner which 
is observable throughout the whole animal kingdom, and, indeed, throughout the 
whole wide and varied field of creation; but still both the structure and the 
application are peculiar, and such as we do not find in any other bird. Accord¬ 
ingly, the habits of the Avocet are singular, and no other bird can be said to 
dwell, or rather to feed, in localities of the same kind. It is, in the places where 
it is found, the last of the land-birds; and, one step beyond it, the feathered in¬ 
habitant is fairly launched upon the waters, and 
“ Rows its state with oary feet.” 
Besides being a very peculiar bird, the Avocet is a very handsome one. It 
measures in length about a foot and a half ; but when the legs, which are very 
strong, are stretched out, they increase the length at least six inches more. The 
tail is short and rounded, and the closed wings extend a little beyond the tip of 
it. The wings, when expanded, measure about two feet and a half. The bill is 
curved upwards, and measures about three inches and a half along the curve. 
When the bird walks, it carries the axis of the body more nearly in an erect than 
in a horizontal position ; but still it is a steady, and even a swift walker, as com¬ 
pared with the entirely web-footed birds which carry the axis of the body in this 
position. Its feet are, indeed, more than half webbed; for the entire web extends 
to half the length of the toes, which it joins, and is continued, in straight lines, to 
the roots of the claws. The foot is peculiar; and almost exactly intermediate 
between the wading foot properly so called, and the swimming foot; but it is not, 
as in the case of the lobed feet, or those with divided webs, adapted for acting 
among the tangled vegetation; it is a foot fitted only for free space, but it is fitted 
equally for hard and soft surfaces, or occasionally for the waters. By having the 
hind toe almost rudimental, it agrees both with the swift running birds and the 
dexterous swimming ones; and when we examine the enlarged pad on the heel, 
and the symmetry of the toes, it is not easy to imagine a more complete piece of 
mechanism, or one better adapted to the haunts of the bird, than the foot of the 
Avocet. 
V 
Foot. 
Head. 
