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The Avocet.
(Recurvirostra avocetta.)
At first sight the strange bill of the Avocet (which earned the bird its old English name of Cobbler's awl) would appear to be useless to a bird living on mudflats and marshes. For how can a bird manage to pick up food with a bill turned) up like a hockey stick? The Avocet however, wades in pools and sweeps its upturned bill from side to side through the water and in so-doing captures quantities of fish ­ spawn, shell-fish, young shrimps and larvae. Formerly this bird was a resident in Britain but it is now only an occasional visitor.