THE AMERICAN OYSTER-CATCHER. 
239 
as effectually displayed as those of the Ivory -billed Woodpecker of our 
woods, the colours of which are somewhat similar. The transparent white 
of their wings contrasts with their jetty tips, and is enriched by the coral 
hue of the bill, while the beautiful white of their lower parts has a very 
pleasing effect. Their loud cries, too, of wheep , wheep, wheeop, which sound 
in your ears, are quite different from any you have heard ; and as they per- 
form their various evolutions, all charming in themselves, you cannot, if un- 
acquainted with the bird, refrain from asking what it is ? Now wheeling with 
wonderful impetuosity, they pass within a hundred yards of you, and sud- 
denly checking their flight return, not low over the waters as before, but 
high in the air. Again, they form their ranks in a broad front, and again, as 
if suddenly alarmed by the report of a distant gun, they close pell-mell, and 
dip towards the sands or the waters. Shoot one at such a moment, and you 
may expect to kill another ; but as this is done, the wary birds, as if sud- 
denly become aware of your intentions, form themselves into a straggling 
line, and before a minute has elapsed, far beyond reach, and fading on the 
view, are the remaining Oyster-catchers. 
The gullet of this species is capable of being considerably distended. 
When your finger is introduced into it, it passes with ease into a sort of 
crop, where the food is apparently prepared before entering the gizzard, 
which is rather muscular. How this bird disposes of the hard particles of 
shells, pebbles, and other matters, with which its food is mixed, is beyond 
my comprehension, and one which I gladly leave for your solution. Their 
flesh is dark, tough, and unfit for eating, unless in cases of extreme 
necessity. 
The females and young are dark olive-brown above, like the males, but of 
a browner shade. I have represented a male bird. I have never met with 
the European Oyster-catcher, Hcematopus Ostralegus, in any part of the 
United States, and, although I cannot of course aver that it does not occur 
here, I believe that the American or Mantled Oyster-catcher has been con- 
founded with it by Wilson and others. Indeed, the figure given by Wilson 
resembles that of the European bird, but his description of the female and 
young almost agrees with the present species, the dimensions also being 
nearly the same. 
At Derni'ere Island, on the 15th of April, 1837, we met with a flock of 
Oyster-catchers, fourteen or fifteen in number, flying compactly, and uttering 
their usual cry of weep, weep. Two were shot down into the water, but 
one of them that had only been winged, dived so effectually as to escape 
from us, in spite of the most strenuous exertions of the sailors. At Galves- 
ton Island on the 26th of April, they were quite away from the water, and 
running among the grass, so that they probably had either eggs or young. 
