A Bird’s-Eye View 
to approach is a peculiar creature called the 
‘¢ oyster-catcher,’’ about as long as a crow, in 
plumage of black and white, with a character- 
istic bill, which is quite long, red, and trun- 
cated at the end of both mandibles. The bill 
is a much more important organ toa bird than 
is the mouth to any other animal, for it renders 
almost all of the additional service of a hand. 
The ‘‘ oyster-catcher ’’ illustrates this, using its 
long, strong, and blunt bill as a ‘‘ jimmy’’ to 
pry open the shells of various bivalves, in order 
to extract the meat. An allied species is the 
little ‘* turnstone ’’ —also called calico - bird, 
from its motley variegation of colors—but with 
a very different form of bill, whose lower half 
tapers to a sharp point, so that the whole re- 
sembles a writing-pen, and is well adapted to 
its purpose of turning over stones on the beach, 
to find the various little animals lurking be- 
neath. 
An eccentric-looking specimen is the avocet, 
remarkable for its very long blue legs and slender 
body, and a bill that is just like a shoemaker’s 
awl—long, sharp, and curved up. Wading 
about in the shallows it finds food with this 
instrument in the soft ground beneath ; but the 
bird is also web-footed, and swims easily. In 
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