THE OYSTER-CATCHER. 139 



Description, 



and falcons; and they are taken in still greater 

 numbers, in weirs made for catching fish ; for 

 these birds are led into the nets, while pursuing 

 small fish and insects, which are their principal 

 food ; and in this instance it has been observed, 

 that " animated nature affords a picture of uni- 

 versal invasion ! Man destroys the otter, the 

 otter destroys the coot, the coot feeds upon fish, 

 and fish are universally the tyrants of each other J* 



THE OYSTER-CJTCHER 



IS a bird very common on the western shores 

 and sea coasts of South Wales ; it generally 

 weighs about half a pound ; its bill is of an orange 

 colour, and about two inches and a half long, 

 ending in a sharp point, the upper part being 

 a little longer than the under; the eyes and the 

 edges of their lids are of a fine red ; the quill- 

 feathers, head, and all the upper parts of the 

 body down to the middle of the breast are black ; 

 except a crescent of white which runs along the 

 throat; the belly, rump, and most of the covert 

 feathers are white; the lower part of the tail is 

 white; but the tips of the tail feathers are all en- 

 tirely black ; the legs and the feet are of a ye\- 

 .lovvish red, and the middle and outermost toes are 

 united by a slight kind of membrane. 



This bird has been called sea-pie, entirely from 

 living on the sea-shores, and its colours being so 

 s 2 



