248 
Mr. J. E. Halting on rare 
must have some peculiar mode of supplying them with food. 
Insectivorous birds, as we know, feed their young by thrust¬ 
ing their own bills into the open mouths of the nestlings, 
while with Cormorants, as I have often observed, just the 
reverse takes place, the bill, and even the entire head of the 
youngster, sometimes disappearing in the capacious maw of 
the attentive parent. But in the case of the Avocets, neither 
of these modes can be adopted, owing to the peculiar curva¬ 
ture of the bill, unless, indeed, that of the nestling is straight; 
and it seems equally clear that the extremities of the mandi¬ 
bles are practically useless, since they are often so weak and 
attenuated that they do not even close one upon the other. 
I suspect it will be found that Avocets feed their nestlings as 
Puffins do; that is to say, they bring small fish, thin-skinned 
Crustacea, and worms crosswise in their bills, and laying the 
latter close alongside the open mandibles of the young, allow 
them to snatch the food sideways from them. 
The mode of feeding as observed in the case of adult birds 
is as remarkable as it is different from that of the majority of 
the Scolopacidse. Instead of boring into the soil, like the 
true Snipes, or feeding from the surface with the extremity 
of the bill, like the Sandpipers, the A voce t, resorting to the 
soft ooze, upon which it is well supported by its webbed 
feet, places the flattened convex mandible upon the surface 
of the mud, and by an alternating lateral motion of the 
head, scoops its food sideways into the mouth. Some in¬ 
teresting remarks on this subject, from the pen of Mr. A. E. 
Knox, will be found in the f Zoologist/ vol i. p. 225. 
Its webbed feet enable the bird to swim well, not only 
when wounded, and attempting to escape, but apparently 
for diversion; for a little flock of Avocets have been seen to 
alight upon a salt-water pool, where the water was known to be 
several feet deep; and Mr. Swinhoe, when at Amoy, once saw 
“ a small group of pied birds floating in a clump ” on the Chang- 
chow river, which subsequently proved to be Avocets*. On 
the wing they are equally at home, flying well and rapidly, with 
outstretched neck, while uttering a loud and tremulous note. 
* Ibis, 1867, p. 400. 
