The American A voce t 
or merely curious; while at sailing he is a passed master, the neck and bill 
being outstretched to fullest capacity to offset the long rudder of the legs. 
How exactly fitted these handsome creatures are to their somewhat 
unique environment, may not be fully realized until one attempts to wade 
through their oozy haunts. The bottom here may be very treacherous, 
with frequent concealed pitfalls and subaqueous passages. In wading a 
northern swamp after Avocets both my companion and myself shipped 
water in our hip boots repeatedly, in spite of the greatest precaution; and 
once I went into a hole so neatly, with both feet, that I had a momentary 
vision of total disappearance, and shouted in terror. Fortunately, how¬ 
ever, the sides held when my outstretched hands met them. But the 
bird is prepared to meet any inequality of bottom, since it does not fear 
submergence, and its legs are carried at a slight angle, that is, divergent, 
to preserve the equilibrium and guard against sudden surprise. 
In feeding along the water’s edge, or at moderate depths, the Avocet 
does not dabble at random, but sees and snatches its prey from the sur¬ 
face of the water with great agility, assisting the passage of the morsel 
down the long bill by a quick forward thrust of the head. Once, however, 
J 
Taken in Merced County Photo by the Author 
ANOTHER SOLICITOUS MOTHER 
1197 
