236 



Genus IV.— H^MATOPUS. OYSTER-CATCHER. 



Bill long, slender, straight, or slightly recurvate, higher than broad at the 

 base, extremely compressed toward the end; upper mandible with the dorsal 

 line straight and slightly sloping at the base, somewhat convex beyond the 

 nostrils, then straight and sloping to the point, the ridge broad and flattened 

 as far as the prominence, afterwards extremely narrow, the sides sloping at 

 the base, perpendicular towards the end, the edges rather sharp, the tip 

 abrupt and wedge-shaped; nasal groove long, bare; lower mandible with the 

 angle of moderate length, the dorsal line ascending and slightly convex, the 

 sides erect, the edges thin, the tip abrupt and wedged. Nostrils sub-basal, 

 linear, near the margin. Head of moderate size, ovate, the forehead round- 

 ed; neck of moderate length; body compact. Feet of moderate length, ra- 

 ther stout; tibia bare for about a fourth of its length; tarsus slightly com- 

 pressed, covered all round with hexagonal scales; toes of moderate length, 

 stout, marginate, flat beneath, webbed at the base, the outer considerably 

 longer than the inner, the first wanting. Claws rather small, arched, mode- 

 rately compressed, obtuse. Plumage generally blended, on the back com- 

 pact. Wings long, pointed, the first quill longest. Tail short, nearly even, 

 of twelve feathers. Tongue short, triangular, fleshy; oesophagus dilated into 

 a pretty large crop; stomach oblong, muscular, with the epithelium dense 

 and longitudinally rugous; intestine long and rather slender; coeca long and 

 nearly cylindrical; cloaca globular. 



THE AMERICAN OYSTER-CATCHER. 



Hjematopus palliatus, Temm. 

 PLATE CCCXXIV.— Male. 



Our Oyster-catcher has a very extensive range. It spends the winter 

 along the coast from Maryland to the Gulf of Mexico, and being then abun- 

 dant on the shores of the Floridas, may be considered a constant resident in 

 the United States. At the approach of spring, it removes toward the Middle 



