352 



The Plover-like Birds 



or more took place at evening, the flock rising and circling about several times 

 until attaining the proper elevation, when they headed straight out to sea, often 

 through a dense bank of fog, their destination being the Aleutians, some 200 

 miles away. The Black Turnstone (A. melanocephala) of the Pacific coast of 

 North America is a little smaller and much darker and has the throat dusky 

 instead of white. 



Surf-bird. Associated with the last, at least by American ornithologists, 

 is the Surf-bird (Aphriza virgatd), which is distinguished by its longer tarsus, 

 emarginate tail, and swollen terminal portion of the bill. It ranges from 

 Alaska to Chile, breeding at the north and feeding largely on crustaceans, 

 which it secures by foraging among the retreating waves, often with the 



spray dashing over it. 

 The nest and eggs are 

 unknown, but Mr. 

 Grinnell, who found 

 the birds in the 

 Kotzebue Sound 

 region, states that 

 he was informed by 

 the natives that they 

 nest about some 

 small lakes far back 

 on the tundra and 

 next to the moun- 

 tains, which confirms 

 the experience of 

 Mr. Nelson at St. 

 Michael. 



Oyster-catchers. Much larger than these, being sixteen to twenty-one 

 inches long, are the Oyster-catchers (Hamatopus}, a maritime, nearly cosmo- 

 politan group of a dozen species, so named from the fact that with their strong, 

 compressed, almost knife-like bills they are able to force open the shells of 

 clams, mussels, etc. They have very robust legs and feet, the hind toe being 

 absent, and the tarsus reticulated on both front and back, while the plumage 

 is largely black above, or in some species black throughout, and white below; 

 the bill is bright red in life. In the American Oyster-catcher (H. palliatus] 

 the rump is of a brownish slate-color, like the back and wings, and the iris bright 

 yellow ; while in the European Oyster-catcher (H. ostralegus] the rump is entirely 

 white and the iris crimson. The former ranges along the seacoasts of temperate 

 and tropical America from Nova Scotia and Lower California to Brazil and 

 Patagonia, and the latter along the coasts of Europe and parts of Asia and 

 Africa, occasionally reaching Greenland. The Oyster-catchers frequent the 

 sandy beaches, usually in small parties, and are rather shy and difficult of 

 approach. When in repose they walk with a stately step, but they can run with 

 ease and swiftness, and when pressed soon take to wing and with swift flight 



FIG. 117. American Oyster-catcher, Hcematopus palliatus. 



