150 H.EMATOPUS. OYSTER-CATCHEE. ' 



late. Aperture of ear transversely oblong, very small. Nos- 

 trils linear, sub-basal, direct, about the middle of the long 

 nasal groove, which is filled with a bare skin. The general 

 form is compact, the body muscular, the neck rather long 

 and thick, the head rather small and oblong, the forehead 

 convex. 



Feet long and stout ; tibia bare about a third up ; tarsus 

 compressed, rounded before and behind, covered anteriorly 

 with hexagonal scales, laterally and posteriorly with scales 

 of the same form but smaller. Toes three before (the first 

 wanting), spreading, short, depressed, covered above with 

 numerous narrow transverse scutella, and having thick broad 

 margins, which, with the very broad flat soles, are covered 

 with roundish papillae ; the second or inner toe shortish, the 

 fourth a little longer, the third considerably longer ; outer 

 and middle toes with the margins dilated and united at the 

 base, so as to form a short web ; which is also the case with 

 the middle and inner, but in a much smaller degree. Claws 

 very small, very slightly arched, narrow, obtuse. 



Plumage soft and glossy, blended, somewhat distinct on 

 the back, on the middle of which it is very short, as well as 

 on the forehead. Feathers of hind-neck very soft and loose ; 

 scapulars elongated, narrow. The feathers in general ovate 

 or lanceolate, with a considerable tufty plumule. Wings 

 long, acute ; quills thirty ; primaries with very strong shafts ; 

 the outer fourteen secondaries short, curved inwards and 

 obliquely rounded ; the rest narrow, tapering, and some of 

 them elongated so as nearly to equal the first primary when 

 the wing is closed. Tertiaries short. Tail rather short, 

 broadish, nearly even, of twelve straight, broad, rounded 

 feathers. 



One of the most remarkable circumstances connected 

 w T ith this genus is the attenuated wedge-like form of the bill, 

 which is produced by attrition, that organ being used for 

 detaching limpets, balani, and other shells from the rocks. In 

 the young bird the bill is not compressed towards the end, 

 and the upper mandible has the tip a little declinate and 

 longer than that of the loAver. In this respect the species of 

 this genus resemble those of the genera Strepsilas and 



