HJEMATOPODIN.B. 659 



It runs actively about, and flies well. It is stated to breed in 

 society in rather deep holes in the sand on some of the islands of 

 the Red Sea, and Layard found it breeding in Ceylon. The eggs 

 which he sent, to the Museum of the Asiatic Society, Calcutta, as of 

 this bird, are quite Plover-like, and of unusually large size. Latham 

 who figures it as the Abyssinian Erody, G. EL, pi. 149, considers 

 it to be Ardea ponticeriana, Gmelin, figured in PL Enl. 932, 

 stating that according to the scale the bird there represented is 

 only 14^ inches in length. 



Sub-fam. H^matopodin^. 

 Bill lengthened, strong, and truncated ; tarsus short. Plumage 

 black or pied. 



This sub-family contains only one genus. 



Gen. Hjematopus, Linnseus. 



Char. — Bill straight or slightly bent upwards, very long, robust, 

 compressed, ending in a truncated point ; nostrils in the middle 

 of a long and deep oblique cleft; wings moderate or long, nearly 

 reaching the end of the tail, pointed, 1st quill longest ; tail moder- 

 ate, nearly even, of twelve feathers ; tarsi short, strong, reticu- 

 lated ; hind toe wanting, anterior toes short, thick, edged with 

 callosities, the outer toe joined at the base to the middle one 

 by a web. 



This genus, at first sight, perhaps does not look like a Plover, 

 but in its general structure and habits, and even in the form of 

 its bill (though modified) it is distinctly allied to that family, near 

 which indeed, most Ornithologists class it. Blyth in his Catalogue 

 places it among the Chionidce. 



The species feed on various molluscs, worms, and small 

 Crustacea. 



862. Hsematopus ostralegus, Linnaeus. 



Jerdon, Cat. 320 — Blyth, Cat. 1571 — Gould, Birds of 

 Europe, pi. 300 — Darya gajpaon, H., i. e., Sea-Longshanks-— Yerri 

 kali ulanka, Tel. 



The Oyster-catcher. 



Descr. — "Whole head and neck, upper back, wings, and tail, 

 black ; lower back, rump, upper tail-coverts, and lower plumage 



