Oyster-Catcher

a shore bird, a sort of surf-plover. It is from seventeen to twenty-one inches long and has a long, stout, crab-red bill, compressed toward the end into the form of a knife blade. It stalks in a dignified manner along the shore on the outlook for clams and oysters with their shells partly open. Before the shell can close it thrusts its bill in and twists the valves apart. If unable to do this, it hammers the clinging shell to fragments on a stone. The bird has webbed toes and half flies, half wades along shallow water, hunting shrimps and limpets. The latter are pried from the rocks with ease. This bird nests in the hot sand. It is worthless as a game bird. There are ten species of oyster-catchers, represented in most of the warmer parts of the globe. Only three species are found on the coasts of North America.