In fresh juvenal plumage the crown is "light drab" with "pinkish buff" tips; the sides and back of the neck are deep, rich "cinnamon," deeper and richer than in the adult, shading off, on the upper back, throat, and upper breast, to a suffusion of "pinkish buff"; the chin and belly are white; the color pattern of the upper parts is similar to that of the adult, except that the dark feathers of the back, scapulars, and tertials are tipped with "pinkish buff"; and the greater and median wing coverts are narrowly so tipped. This plumage is worn through the summer and fall without much change except by extensive fading and some wear. The cinnamon has nearly disappeared in September birds and all the buff edgings have faded or worn away. A body molt takes place in late winter or early spring which produces a first nuptial plumage much like the adult. Young birds can, however, be recognized by the worn primaries and by some of the juvenal scapulars and wing coverts. The first postnuptial molt, the following summer, is complete and produces the adult winter plumage. Adults have a complete postnuptial molt, beginning in August, and a partial prenuptial molt, beginning in January, which involves the body plumage and some of the scapulars and wing coverts. The "cinnamon" colors of the head and neck are characteristic of the nuptial plumage and are replaced by pale gray in winter adults. _Food._--The feeding habits of the avocet are rather peculiar, as might be expected of a bird with such a peculiar bill. The bill is not so sharply upturned in life, as it is in some stuffed specimens and in some drawings. Dr. Frank M. Chapman (1891) has explained it very well, as follows: The use of the avocet's recurved bill is clearly explained by the manner in which the bird procures its food. In feeding they wade into the water and drop the bill below the surface until the convexity of the maxilla probably touches the bottom. In this position they move forward at a half run and with every step the bill is swung from side to side sweeping through an arc of about 50° in search of shells and other small aquatic animals. The mandibles are slightly opened, and at times the birds pause to swallow their prey. It is evident that birds with a straight or a downward curved bill could not adopt this method of feeding. Audubon (1840) describes it, as follows: