CHAKADRIID^. 



437 



seen on the smooth beach bordering the ocean, and on 

 the high, dry, level sands just beyond the reach of the 

 summer tides. When the shores are flat and of a reten- 

 tive nature, so that the surface remains covered with a 

 shallow stratum of water after the tide has ebbed, the 

 Oyster-catcher finds its prey readily, as the shells of the 

 bivalves are then partially opened, and it can easily 

 insert its wedge-shaped bill and wrench them asunder ; 

 but where the sand soon dries, and there are no rocks on 

 which limpets can be had, it follows the line of the water 

 both in its retreat and its advance. 



^^^"rgu 



