ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



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siderable, as in a skimmer which 1 have had 

 for years in captivity, in the Zoological Park, 

 the lower mandible grew remarkably fast, 

 measuring six and three-fourths inches from 

 base to tip when the bird was eighteen months 

 eld. 



Herons and ibises, through all the years, 

 sought their food in mucli the same places as 

 have ducks ; the straight-billed herons seizing 

 their living ])rey with a single lightning dart, 

 as it swims past them ; the spoonbills spattering 

 in the shallows ; and the curved-beaked ibises 

 probing every crevice along shore. The spoon- 

 bills swing their necks and heads from side to 

 side, as they walk slowly through the water, 

 gleaning their food w-ith the motion of a 

 nuivver wielding his scythe. Two of the herons 

 are interesting enough to hold our attention 

 for a moment. The common black-crowned 

 night lieron is abundant throughout most of 

 North America, and he fishes in legitimate 

 heron fashion : but his near relative, tlie boat- 

 billed heron, is a more tropical species. In 

 voice, appearance, and structure there is little 

 to choose between the two birds — except that 

 the latter has a broad, scoop-like beak — a peli- 

 can's fish-trap in miniature, which seems to 

 answer every requirement of this strange-look- 

 ing bird. From the muddiness of the water in 

 the tropical swamps from which I have flushed 

 these birds, it seems probable that much of 

 their food may be lesser fry than fish. 



Pebbles and shells, which shelter so many 

 toothsome morsels along the shallows of our 

 seashore, offer sumptuous feasts to birds fur- 



nished with beaks ailapled to prying and prob- 

 ing, and we find all sorts of sizes and shapes. 

 A collection of bills of various wading-birds 

 would look like a complete set of surgical tools ! 

 There is the stilt, whose bill is almost straight ; 

 the ibis, with mandibles curved downward to 

 probe the crevices between the ])ebbles on 

 which he stands : the avocct has a pair of re- 

 curved pliers, which search out the worm or 

 snail in the deepest fissures ahead of him. At 

 the slightest touch of such a beak, the oysters 

 and other large bivalves close with a snap, de- 

 fying these birds to jienetrate their living 

 armor. Indeed, more than one gull or 

 wader has rashly pecked at the sweet flesh, 

 when the two tight-fitting doors have suddenly 

 closed, pinning the bird helpless and holding 

 it captive despite its struggles, until the rising 

 tide has ended its life. 



But along comes a bird, well named oyster- 

 catcher, and woe to the mollusks now. It al- 

 lows them to close tightly upon its bill, the 

 mandibles of which are like thin blades, many 

 vears antedating man's oyster-knives. The 

 mollusk is wrenched free by the sturdy bird, 

 carried from the water still gri])ping the bird's 

 bill, and is then pried open and eaten. The bill 

 of this bird show's the wear and tear of forc- 

 ing apart the shells, and it is sometimes slightly 

 bent to one side. The short-billed gulls are 

 denied the power of opening these oysters and 

 mussels, but thev sometimes get an unlawful 

 feast by following up and robbing the oyster- 

 catchers of the shells which the latter have 

 opened. 



