148 



BRANCH VEKTEBRATA. 



FIG. 253. 



H<R mat' o pus -pal li <!' tus. Oyster-catcher. 

 FIG. 254. 



Cha rd' clri us vir gin' i cits. Golden Plover. 



The Oyster-catcher of 

 the Atlantic coast has a bill, 

 long, abrupt, and chisel-like, 

 adapted to opening the shells 

 of bivalve mollusks and de- 

 taching limpets from the 

 rocks. 



The Plovers frequent 

 commons and unsheltered 

 shores, running around in 

 search of insects, slugs, 

 worms, etc. They change 

 their locality several 

 times in a single season, 

 and are amongst those 

 birds most eagerly 

 sought by the sports- 

 man. The Golden Plover 

 inhabits all the conti- 

 nent of America. 



ORDER GALLIN^E (gal li'rie). 



This order includes the hen-like birds. They generally 

 have feeble powers of night, characterized by a whirring 

 sound. To aid them in scratching, the hind toe is ele- 

 vated. Their food is first softened in a crop, then mingled 

 with the drink in a second expansion of the gullet, and 

 lastly ground in the gizzard. To elude the sharp eye of 

 their enemies, they squat upon the ground and lie quiet 

 their mimicry corresponding to the herbage they frequent.* 



* To this order belongs the Domestic Fowl (Gal 1 lus ban KV va). The original 

 stock, however, has been so modified by cultivation for thousands of years, that 

 it can not be identified, though it is generally supposed to have come from India. 



