366 
STREP SI LAS INTER PRES. 
HABITS. 
On our voyage southward in the yacht Nina, we met with the Oyster Catchers for 
the first time, at Smithville, North Carolina. This was late in November and they were 
evidently established there for the winter, for they frequented the oyster bars in the har¬ 
bor, in large numbers. At high water, they would retreat to the sand bars on the beach 
ridge, where they would sit perfectly quiet, with their heads drawn in and their bills in¬ 
clining downward, much after the manner of Woodcock. But when the outgoing tide 
left the tops of the oyster bars exposed, they would come flying silently in, at first singly, 
then in pairs, while groups of a few would follow, until, at last, they would come in flocks 
of a dozen or more. They would alight among the oysters and when the bivalves gaped 
open, as is their habit when the water first leaves them, the birds would thrust in the point 
of their hard, flat bills, divide the ligament with which the shells are fastened together, 
then, having the helpless inhabitant at their mercy, would at once devour it. They were 
not long in making a meal, for specimens which I shot after they had been feeding a short 
time, were so crammed that by simply holding a bird by the legs and shaking it gently, the 
oysters would fall from its mouth. They appeared to feed almost exclusively on this kind 
of food at Smithville, for I never found anything else in their stomachs; in fact, they ate 
so many oysters that their flesh was strongly flavored with them. 
Oyster Catchers are quite shy when shot at frequently and as they are difficult to kill, 
it is not easy to procure specimens. When one is knocked down, the collector is not sure 
of it, as they not only run with great swiftness but swim and dive nearly as well as Ducks, 
and a wounded bird, if able to run, will at once take to the water. When disturbed, they 
rise with loud screams and if captured after being disabled, utter similar cries which are 
apt to attract the attention of their companions, causing them to circle about. 
In Florida, I found large flocks of these birds on the marshes back of Amelia Island, 
gathering about the fresh water ponds to drink and bathe; here they were unusually shy, 
not allowing me to come within a hundred yards of them. Oyster Catchers breed along the 
sandy beaches of the coast and adjacent islands, from Florida to New Jersey, nesting about 
June. 
GENUS II. STREPSILAS. THE TURNSTONES. 
Gen. Ch. Bill, short, about as long as the head, but not compressed laterally at tip. Hind toe, present. Stomach, 
muscular. Furcula, not well arched. 
Members of this genus, have the outer marginal indentations much deeper than inner. Sexes, similar. There is but 
one species within our limits, 
STREPSILAS INTERPRES. 
Turnstone. 
Strepsilas interpres III., Prod.; 1811, 263. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Sp. Ch. Form, robust. Size, not large. Bill, not long. Steruum, stout. Tongue, rather long, thin, not wide at 
base, and narrowing toward tip which is rounded. 
Color. Adult. Sides of head and neck, rump, upper tail coverts, under portions, and tail, white, with band on latter, 
crescent shaped mark on upper coverts, broad band on neck, extending down on side of breast and in a line back of ear 
coverts, line from lower mandible to throat patch, another line from forehead to eye, passing under it into the last, and 
