314 BULLETIN 146, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



and in one instance I saw au individual run from the water to the dry sand with 

 a small flounder in its bill, which it afterwards devoured. 



Wilson (1832) says that they probe in the sand "with their long, 

 ■wedgelike bills in search of small shellfish. This appears evident 

 on examining the hard sands where they usually resort, which are 

 found thickly perforated with oblong holes, 2 to 3 inches in depth." 

 He seemed to doubt the reports of their eating oysters, but C. J. 

 Maynard (1896) writes: 



When the outgoing tide left the tops of the oyster bars exposed, they would 

 come flying silently in, at first singly, then in pairs, while groups of a few would 

 follow, until, at last, they would come in flocks of a dozen or more. They would 

 alight among the oysters and when the bivalves gaped open, as is their habit 

 when the water first leaves them, the birds would thrust in the point of their 

 hard, flat bills, divide the ligament with which the shells are fastened together, 

 then, having the helpless inhabitant at their mercy, would at once devour it. 

 They were not long in making a meal, for specimens which I shot after they 

 had been feeding a short time were so crammed that by simply holding a bird 

 by the legs and shaking it gently the oysters would fall from its mouth. 



Behavior. — Oyster catchers are strong, swift fliers and at times 

 are graceful and elegant in their movements. They are striking 

 birds in flight, displaying to good advantage their conspicuous pat- 

 terns of black and white and their bright red bills. Their movements 

 on the ground are equally graceful as they walk sedately along the 

 beach or wade out into the water until the waves lap their breasts. 

 They can swim perfectly well and can even dive readily if necessary. 

 Audubon (1840) describes their flight evolutions as follows: 



Now wheeling with wonderful impetuosity they pass within a hundred yards 

 of you, and suddenly checking their flight return, not low over the water as 

 before, but high in the air. Again, they form their ranks in a broad front, and, 

 again, as if suddenly alarmed by the report of a distant gun, they close pell- 

 mell, and dip towards the sands or the waters. Shoot one at such a moment 

 and you may expect to kiU another ; but as this is done, tlie wary birds, as if 

 suddenly become aware of your intentions, form themselves into a straggling 

 line, and before a minute has elapsed, far beyond reach, and fading on the 

 view, are the remaining oyster catchers. 



Voice. — The loud, striking notes of protest, heard as the oyster 

 catcher flies around the intruder on its breeding grounds, are quite 

 unlike any other bird notes; they sound like wheep^ wheep, wheeop, 

 and are both vehement and penetrating. John T. Nichols says in 

 his notes: "The oyster catcher has a creeking note, crih^ crik, crih^ 

 etc., used when the bird takes wing. A more striking cry, cle-ar, 

 suggests the flight calls of the willet and the black-bellied plover." 



Field marks. — A large wader, with black head and dark upper 

 parts, with a big white patch in its long, pointed, black wings and 

 with white under parts, can be nothing but an oyster catcher. No 

 other bird of strong, steady flight can be mistaken for it. One is 

 seldom near enough to recognize its long, red bill. 



