Family— H JEMATOPODID^. 
Genus— H^MATOPUS. 
H^matopus Linne, Syst. Nat., lOtli ed., p. 152, 1758 Type H, ostralegus. 
Also spelt — 
Hoematopus Boimaterre, Tabl. EnC 5 rc. M6th. Omith., Vol. L, p. 25, 1791. 
Hcemantopvs Forster, Synop. Cat. Brit. Birds, p. 26, 1817. 
Hoemotopus Brehm, Vogel Deutschl., p. 660, 1831. 
Ostrelaga Bonnaterre, Tabl. Encyc. Meth. Omith., 
Vol. I., p. Ixxxii., 1791 Type H. ostralegus. 
Also spelt — 
Ostralega id., ib., p. 25. 
Ostralegus Macgillivray, Man. Brit. Omith., Vol. II., p. 68, 1842. 
Melanihyx Reichenbach, Nat. Syst. Vogel, p. xii, 1852 Type H, niger. 
Ostralegus id., ib Type H. o. longirostris. 
To me the Oystercatchers constitute a distinct family of birds, whose exact 
relationships are somewhat obscure. 
They are wading birds characterised by very long straight, laterally 
compressed bills, long wings, short legs and stout feet. 
The bill is long and straight, laterally compressed in front of the nostrils, 
much longer than the head and also longer than the tarsus : the nostrils lie 
near the base of the culmen as longitudinal slits, in a groove whicll extends 
along half the length of the bill. The wings are long and pointed with the 
first primary longest and more than twice the length of the tail which is 
square. Metatarsus short and thick and entirely covered with somewhat 
hexagonal scales ; toes short and thick, with slight webs between the 
basal phalanges, and the skin of the soles laterally extended. Hind toe 
entirely absent. 
Seebohm, whose generic limits were very wide, wrote : “ The Oyster- 
catchers are a small compact group of birds, very closely connected with each 
other, and very clearly differentiated from all other groups of birds. The 
bill of the Oyster-catcher is very abnormal.” 
I am unable to indicate any near alliance with the other birds placed 
near this group, and hence I am accepting them as worthy of family rank. 
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