‘yo «THE NATURAL HISTORY 
The Oyfter-catcher is about the fize of a 
Royfton Crow ; its bill is about four inches long 5 - 
it is contracted or narrowed, and as it werecom= 
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 fith. 
?. 
~The Oyfter-catchers have but three toes, and 
| {carcely any membrane between, yet they frequent 
the fea-fhores, and fometimes {wim 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 cai leave the fea when they pleafe. 
A Gentleman kept one of thefe birds more thant _ 
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. 
egos on the bare fand, out of the reach of the tide. 
It. lays four or five eggs, and it is about three 
weeks 
