or little-known Limicoke. 
247 
is equally at home during the breeding-time ; but Mr. Howard 
Saunders, who has obtained the eggs there, states (Ibis, 1871, 
p. 387) that it does not appear to be numerous, since only a 
few pairs came under his own observation. 
Dr. Cullen, referring to the present species, says the Avocet 
is rather a common bird in the Dobrudscha during the breed¬ 
ing-season. There it never nests in marshes, nor in weeds or 
grass, but always on the sand, mud, or shingle left dry, or 
nearly so, by the partial drying up or receding of the salt lakes 
or ponds. There are several of these in the neighbourhood 
of Kustendji, upon the shores of which the Avocet breeds. 
The nest is usually a mere hollow lined with stems, straws 
and pieces of caked mud, but is frequently without any lining 
at all. Dr. Cullen once found some nests made completely of 
straws and stems built up to the height of six or eight inches. 
When undisturbed the bird invariably lays four eggs. These 
are of a warm stone-colour, handsomely blotched or streaked 
with black. Notwithstanding that the nestis generally in an 
exposed situation, it is not very easy to find; for the bird never 
flies directly to or from it. It always runs crouching]y along 
the ground, with head bent low, for some little way before it 
takes flight, and in returning it invariably alights first at some 
distance, and approaches the nest in the same cautious way 
that it left it. It is a shy and restless bird, and betrays great 
uneasiness if its nest is approached or its young molested, 
often trying to entice the intruder away by feigning lame¬ 
ness or a broken wing. The young, which run as soon as 
they are hatched, are at first covered with white down, but 
marked on the head and shoulders like the old birds. Dr. 
Cullen says the bill is then quite straight; but if so, it must 
very speedily acquire the characteristic curve ; for Mr. Gould, 
in his f Birds of Great Britain 9 has figured the young three 
weeks old with unmistakably upturned bills; and I have be¬ 
fore me a young bird from Southern Spain, apparently about 
the same age, in which the bill is also very decidedly curved. 
If the bill, however, were not straight at first, it would fol¬ 
low that the young must either fee^ immediately they are 
hatched, after the manner of their parents, or that the latter 
