THE MILK POND OYSTERS. 59 



topus ostralegus). He is timorous, watchful, and 

 always on his guard ; he walks along the shore with 

 a certain air of dignity, which sets off his beautiful 

 black and white plumage and his coral-coloured 

 beak. On the oyster-beds, the oyster-catcher employs 

 that arched beak by inserting it between the oyster 

 and the rock to which it is fixed; and when the 

 valves open he seizes the poor mollusc, tears it out, 

 and flies off with a lamentable cry, " Wheep ! 

 wheep \" skimming the waves leisurely as he goes, 

 and betaking himself to some favourite rock where 

 he can devour his prey without fear of being dis- 

 turbed. As he is not worth much as game, the 

 oyster-catcher is usually shot only by the Surveyors, 

 who treat them exactly as our gamekeepers treat 

 the magpies, martins, sparrow-hawks, buzzards, and 

 other birds of prey. 



The best oysters in the United States are the 

 Shrewsbury and the Milk Pond oysters. In Rhode 

 Island, moreover, they produce green oysters,* but 



* Green oysters are the same species as the -white ones, and they 

 may he^greened intentionally. For this purpose, a park is chosen, 

 generally a small one, and one in which the sea-water can be kept for 

 a greater or less time without changing. When the stones or shingle 

 at the bottom of the park begin to turn green, the oysters are laid 

 down ; but they must be arranged with greater care than is usually 

 employed in laying oysters in a park, and above all, they must not be 

 placed one over another. The consequence is, that when oysters are 

 laid to green they require three times the space needed for ordinary 

 purposes. Sometimes three days will suffice to give them a light green 

 tint ; but to acquire the deep green shade a month is necessary. The 

 oysters will not take the green colour iu winter, nor in a season of 



