2258 PLOVERS, SANDPIPERS, SNIPE, JACANAS, GULLS 



ties are the Australian black oyster catcher (H. unicolor) , represented by a variety 

 in Africa; and the American black oyster catcher (//". niger), characterized by the 

 great compression of its large beak, which in the South- American race tends to 

 curve upward at the tip. 



Mainly coast birds, although frequently ascending rivers for a long distance in- 

 land, oyster catchers derive their name from their habit of feeding largely upon 

 bivalve mollusks, the shells of which their compressed beaks are admirably adapted 

 for prising open. The same efficient Instrument serves for detaching limpets from 

 their hold on rocks, and extracts marine worms and other creatures from their bur- 

 rows in the sand. 



COMMON OYSTER CATCHER. 



(One- third natural size.) 



Nearly allied to the members of this genus is a remarkable bird from 

 o . Central Asia (Ibidorhynchus struthersi), distinguished by the beak be- 



Catcher * n g curved down in the manner of that of an ibis. The beak and feet 

 are red, the front of the head black, and the general tone of the re- 

 mainder of the plumage olive. 



Although evidently related to the preceding genera, the curlews belong to the 

 second section of the subfamily, in which, at least for the lower portion of its front 



