RECURVIROSTRA.
Bill long, slender, recurved ; legs long, feet webbed : inhabit shores of lagoons and marshy places; gregarious, especially in winter; legs extended in flight; eggs, 3 or 4, warm stone ochreous spotted and blotched with blackish.
Recurvirostra avosetta avosetta L. AVOCET. Fr. Avocette ; Ger. Sabelschnabel ; /tat. Avocetta ; Swed. Skartlacka.
6 9 Forehead, crown, and neck brownish black ; shoulders, primaries and most of upper tail coverts black, rest of plumage white. Iris reddish brown. Bill black. Legs and feet grey blue.
Wing 220-235. Tarsus 84-90. Naked tibia 50-57. Bill 49i (H.). In young black is replaced by brown.
Breeds.—Holland, Denmark, N. Shores of Mediterranean and Black Seas, probably Algeria and Morocco ; also throughout Africa and C. Asia. Winters India and Africa, as well as in Mediterranean Basin. Of irregular occurrence on passage in British Isles, where it formerly nested.