70° THE NATURAL HISTORY 
The Oyfter-catcher is about the fize of 
Royfton Crow; its bill is aboug four inches long 5 
it is contracted or narrowed, and as it were com. 
prefled above the noftrils and flattened at the fides, 
in the form of an hatchet, This is a very odd 
form, and makes the beak very proper for feparat- 
ing oyfters, limpets, and other fhell-fith, from the 
rocks, upon which thefe birds feed. Whenit fees 
an oyfler gape wide enough, it immediately puts 
in its bill and takes out the fifth, 
The Oyfter-catchers have but three toes, and 
fcarcely any membrane between, yet they frequent 
"the fea-fhores, and fometimes fwim upon the fea, 
They do not feem to labour when they are upon 
the water, but fuffer themfelves to be tofled by 
the waves; yet they are not afraid of meeting — 
them, and can leave the fea when they pleafe, 
A Gentleman kept one of thefe birds more than 
two months in his garden; it fed upon earth 
worms chiefly, but would eat raw meat, and even 
bread, which it feemed to like very well; it would 
drink either frefh or falt water, without feeming 
to prefer one to the other. Yet Oyfter-catchers 
always live in the neighbourhood of the fea. 
The Oyfter-catcher makes no neft, but lays its 
eggs on the bare fand, out of the reach of the tide. 
. It lays four or five eggs, and it is about three 
weeks 

