HÆMATOPUS, the SEA-PYE, in ornithology, a genus belonging to the order of grallæ. The beak is compressed, with an equal wedge-shaped point; the nostrils are linear; and the feet have three toes without nails. There is but one species, viz. the ostralegus, or oyster-catcher, a native of Europe and America. It feeds upon shell-fish near the sea-shore, particularly oysters, and limpets. On observing an oyster which gapes wide enough for the insertion of its bill, it thrusts it in, and takes out the inhabitant: it will also force the limpets from their
adhesion to the rocks with sufficient ease. In turn it feeds on marine insects and worms. With us these birds are often seen in considerable flocks in winter: in the summer they are met with only in pairs, though chiefly in the neighbourhood of the sea or salt rivers. The female lays four or five eggs, on the bare ground, on the shore, above high-water mark: they are of a greenish grey, blotched with black. The young are said to be hatched in about three weeks. These birds are pretty wild when in flocks; yet are easily brought up tame, if taken young.