176 PIED OYSTER-CATCHER. 



verts, and that portion of the tail which they cover, are pure 

 white; the wings, when shut, cover the whole white plumage 

 of the back and rump; legs and naked part of the thighs pale 

 red; feet three toed, the outer joined to the middle by a broad 

 and strong membrane, and each bordered with a rough warty 

 edge; the soles of the feet are defended from the hard sand and 

 shells by a remarkably thick and callous warty skin. 



On opening these birds the smallest of the three was found 

 to be a male; the gullet widened into a kind of crop; the sto- 

 mach, or gizzard, contained fragments of shell-fish, pieces of 

 crabs, and of the great king-crab, with some dark brown marine 

 insects. The flesh was remarkably firm and muscular, the skull 

 thick and strong, intended no doubt, as in the Woodpecker 

 tribe, for the security of the brain from the violent concussions 

 it might receive while the bird was engaged in digging. The 

 female and young birds have the back and scapulars of a sooty 

 brownish olive. 



This species is found as far south as Cayenne and Surinam. 

 Dampier met with it on the coast of New Holland; the British 

 circumnavigators also saw it on Van Diemen's Land, Terra del 

 Fuego, and New Zealand. 



