Avocet
or AVOSET, the English name of a genus of birds, with their feet so webbed that they might seem to belong to the natatores (swimmers), but which, by the other parts of their structure, are placed in the family scolopacidæ (snipes), and the sub-family totaninæ (tattlers). Their great peculiarity is a long, feeble bill, curved upward, with which they explore the sand for prey.
Recurvirostra avocetta is a British bird.
It was formerly abundant in the fenny districts, but is now rare. R. americana differs from it by having a red cap; and there are a few other foreign species,