The American A voce t 
Because of this prominence, the birds are very sensitive to espionage while 
they are on their nests, and will flush at a hundred or even two hundred 
yards. An automobile, however, is less feared than a man on foot, and 
I have found it the surest way to locate their nests in a difficult country 
to study the landscape with 8-power glasses from the seclusion of a cov¬ 
ered machine. 
These birds are not only waders, but swimmers and flyers as well, 
Taken in Washington 
From a photograph, Copyright iqo6, by W. L. Dawson 
THE APPEAL TO PITY 
and they show little preference among these modes of activity. If you 
approach a wading Avocet a little too closely, he may walk off with 
dignified carelessness; and if the retreating bottom takes him beyond his 
depth, he is instantly at ease upon the water and swims off, duck-fashion, 
with keel held low in front, now glancing at you over one shoulder and 
now over the other. Or else, either from land or water, he takes quickly 
to wing, letting the long legs first dangle and then straighten out behind 
him as he progresses. Rising is thus a bit awkward, and in settling, also, 
the legs must first be brought forward to engage the surface of reef or 
pool before the wing motion ceases. In flight the motion may be either 
fairly rapid or quite leisurely, according to whether the bird is frightened 
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