606 SYSTEMATIC SYNOPSIS —LIMICOLM. 



39. Family H^MATOPODID^ : Oyster-catchers. Turnstones. 



A small family of two genera and six or eight species, with the bill hwrd, and either acute 

 or truncate, the nasal fossae short, broad, and shallow ; the legs short, stout, brightly-colored. 

 The two following genera differ much — in fact, more than Aph/riza does from Strepsilas ; it 

 is unnecessary to give a formal analysis. Each should be type of a subfamily at least. 



56. Subfamily H.^MATOPODIN.^ : Oyster-catchers. 



222. K.a5MA'TOPtJS. (Gr. aifuiTovois, haimatopous, red-footed ; alfui, haitna, blood, novs, pous, 

 foot.) Oystbe-catchers. No hind toe. Front toes with basal webbing, conspicuous between 

 middle and outer, and broadly fringed with membrane continuous with the webs to the ends. 



Tarsus longer than middle toe 

 and claw, reticulate, the plates 

 in front enlarged; shorter than 

 bill. Tibise briefly bare below. 

 Legs as a whole very stout, 

 coarse and rough, and light- 

 colored. Wings long and 

 pointed ; 1st and 3d quills sub- 

 equal and longest. Tail short, 

 FiG.420. — Bill of Oyster-oatoher.nat. size. (Ad nat. del. E. C.) square, scarcely or not half as 



long as the wing. Bill peculiar — longer than tarsus, twice as long as head, constricted near 

 the base, much compressed, almost like a knife-blade toward end, and truncate, something 

 like a woodpecker's (it is an efficient instrument for prying open the shells of bivalve mol- 

 lusks), hard, straight or deflected sideways, highly colored (iig. 430.) Nasal groove very short, 

 broad, and shallow; grooving of lower mandible slight; interramal space very short, scarcely a 

 third the length of the long ascending gonys. Nostrils remote from the feathers, linear, close 

 to edge of bill. Size large. Sexes similar. Coloration dark and white, in masses. Several 

 species, inhabiting the sea-coasts of most countries. 



Analysis of Species. 



Head, neck and upper back glossy-black ; belly white ostrilegus 595 



Head and neck glossy-black; back smoky -brown ; belly white palliatus 59G 



Head and neck glossy-black ; back and belly smoky-brown niger 597 



595. H. ostrl'legus. (Lat. ostrcea, an oyster; lego, I gather. Fig. 431.) European Oyster- 

 catcher (oyster-opener would be a better name, as oysters do not run fast). Similar to the 

 next to be described. Upper parts glossy-black, like the bead and neck. Quills black, broadly 

 margined with white on inner webs excepting towards end, and also with isolated white 

 shafts and spaces near end. Back below, interscapulars, rump, and upper tail-coverts entirely 

 white, as well as bases of the tail-feathers. Length about 16.00 ; bill about 3.00 ; wing 9.50 ; 

 tail 4.30; tarsus nearly 3.00. Europe, Asia, Africa; N. Am. as occurring in Greenland. 



596. H. palUa'tus. (Lat. palliatus, wearing the pallium, a cloak.) American Oystee-catcher. 

 Brown-backed Oystee-catcher. Adult <J 9 '■ Bill vermilion or coral-red, changing to 

 yellow at end. Feet pale purplish flesh-color, drying dingy yellowish. Eyes and ring around 

 them red or orange. Whole head and neck all around glossy-black, frequently overcast with 

 an ashy or glaucous shade. Back and wing-coverts smoky-brown — the contrast with the 

 head and neck decided. Rump and central field of upper tail-coverts like back (not white) ; 

 lateral and longest central coverts white. Tail-feathers white at base for nearly the space 

 covered by the coverts, on the lateral feathers rather farther ; then like back, blackening at 

 ends. Tprtiaries and long inner secondaries like back ; next few secondaries pure white ; rest 

 gaining dark color in increasing amount; the white of the secondaries forming with the long 



