128 
CHARADIUID^. 
mussels, and a day or two afterwards eat of porridge, tlie first time 
this was offered. On such, vegetable and animal diet this oyster- 
catcher was fed for three weeks after capture, when these notes 
were made ; the shells of the mussels were opened for it. The 
bird was quite tame from the day of its being received. 
Aug, 1, 1849. Trom the period last named until now, this 
bird has been in the possession of Dr. J. D. Marshall, who con- 
siders it a most interesting pet. It runs eagerly to him to pick 
the animals from the shells of mussels held (very slightly open) 
in his hand, and cleans them out with great rapidity. Lest any 
fragments sliould remain in the shells thrown aside, after its being 
thus fed, it goes rapidly over them again. The servant having 
partially boiled some full-grown buckles (Buccinum undatum) for 
it one day, endeavoured for a long time, with the aid of a fork, to 
extract tlie animals ; but had to give up the attempt. The shells 
containing them were then flung to the bird, which on the instant 
withdrew the animals from their habitations, and ate them. It is 
comical to see this bird, when hungry, quickly tnrning over, either 
partially or wholly, any objects in the yard, as plates, &c. in search 
of food beneath them. Its bill, too, is thrust, full-length, into 
any crevice of the ground, chink, &c., causing the head at the 
base of the bill to be generally covered with earth. It ate freely 
and without hesitation of various kinds of food, the first time they 
were offered, including flesh-meat and bread. 
This bird had the freedom of its master^s house, and was very 
partial to ascending the stairs to the uppermost rooms, some- 
times remaining quietly stationed for hours looking out of the 
windows, generally of the highest or fourth story. It remained 
much perched on one foot. When thus in the house, its master 
had only to call the bird as he ascended the stairs, and it came 
running to him from wherever it was stationed. Once, early in 
its captivity, this bird escaped from a window on the third story, 
and flew to near the end of a long street, when the injured wing 
compelled a descent to the ground, and it was again caught. 
Colonel Sabine remarked, at Ballybunian, on the coast of Kerry, 
in the month of July 1833, that oyster- catchers, which were 
