A Bird's-Eye View 



to approach is a peculiar creature called the 

 "oyster-catcher," about as long as a crow, in 

 plumage of black and white, with a character- 

 istic bill, which is quite long, red, and trun- 

 cated at the end of both mandibles. The bill 

 is a much more important organ to a bird than 

 is the mouth to any other animal, for it renders 

 almost all of the additional service of a hand. 

 The " oyster-catcher " illustrates this, using its 

 long, strong, and blunt bill as a "jimmy " to 

 pry open the shells of various bivalves, in order 

 to extract the meat. An allied species is the 

 little " turnstone " — also called calico -bird, 

 from its motley variegation of colors — but with 

 a very different form of bill, whose lower half 

 tapers to a sharp point, so that the whole re- 

 sembles a writing-pen, and is well adapted to 

 its purpose of turning over stones on the beach, 

 to find the various little animals lurking be- 

 neath. 



An eccentric-looking specimen is the avocet, 

 remarkable for its very long blue legs and slender 

 body, and a bill that is just like a shoemaker's 

 awl — long, sharp, and curved up. Wading 

 about in the shallows it finds food with this 

 instrument in the soft ground beneath ; but the 

 bird is also web-footed, and swims easily. In 



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