The American Avocet 
especially so at other times. Their notes consist chiefly of simple shrill 
cries, neither very musical nor yet strident, 11 crick-crick-crick-crick” or 
creek-creek —something, in fact, after the order of the Curlews, with many 
excited quaverings beside. 
It is, however, when its nest is threatened that the bird displays its 
utmost charms. It is anxious at the outset to distract attention, even 
before discovery of the eggs is certain; and as one pokes about in a flat- 
Taken near Los Banos Photo by the Author 
YOUNG BLADES 
bottomed boat or canoe, a half dozen of them at once may be seen hoist¬ 
ing signals of distress, and inviting pursuit. One example may suffice. 
With splendid light and well equipped for photographic appreciation, we 
put the canoe against a tiny reef upon which we saw a nest with three 
eggs. The mother bird had flushed at a hundred yards, but seeing our 
position she flew toward us and dropped into the water some fifty feet 
away. Here she lifted a black wing in simulation of maimed stiffness, and 
flopped and floundered away with the aid of the other one. Seeing that 
the ruse failed, she ventured nearer and repeated the experiment, lifting 
now one wing and now both in token of utter helplessness. After a while 
the male joined her, and we had the painful spectacle of a crippled family, 
whose members were uttering most doleful cries of distress, necessitated 
apparently by their numerous aches and breaks. 
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