136 NESTS AND EGGS OF 



brown; rather oval in shape; sizes range from 2.12 to 2.30 in length by 

 1.50 to 1.62 in breadth. Six eggs from the coast of Virginia measure 

 2.22x1.57, 2.23x1.58, 2.19x1.52, 2.15x1.52, 2.25x1.60, 2.21x1.57. 



287. Hsematopus bachmani AUD. [508.] 



Black Oyster-catcher. 



Hab. Pacific coast of North America from lower California north to the Aleutian Islands and across 

 to the Kurilas. 



Bachrnan's Oyster-catcher is a characteristic bird of the Pacific 

 coast, being more common to the north than to the south. It is said 

 to be partial to rocky coasts and islands and not always met with on 

 sand beaches. 



I am informed that it is common on Santa Cruz Island and that it 

 breeds on the outlying rocks. At these places it is by no means shy 

 as is the case in other localities. Breeds on all suitable islands along 

 the Pacific coast from Santa Barbara northward. Mr. Bryant in his Fa- 

 rallon paper,* remarks : " Flocks of five to ten were seen in May and 

 June, 1887. They were very tame, feeding slowly and quietly along 

 the water's edge in compact flocks. Upon higher ground they moved 

 more rapidly and spread out more. Individuals were seen as late as 

 August, but they do not, Mr. Emerson states, breed on the island. A 

 female was taken July 26th, 1886." A few are known to breed on the 

 Aleutian Islands. When disturbed the birds utter a peculiar low 

 whistle, calling to one another for hours at a time. The eggs are two 

 or three in number, light olive-buff, speckled or spotted with brown- 

 ish black and purplish-gray. Average size 2.18x1.52. They are 

 deposited in a slight cavity in the gravel or on the bare rock. 



[288.] Jacana gymnostoma (WAGL.) [568.] 



Mexican Jacaua. 



Hab. Valley of the Lower Rio Grande, Texas, south into Central America, Panama, Cuba, Hayti. 



A bird which combines the characters of the Plover and the Rail 

 but outwardly distinguished from either by the excessive development 

 of the toes and particularly the claws. These are slender, compressed, 

 nearly or quite straight, that of the hallux much longer than its digit. 

 The spread of feet thus acquired enables the bird to run quite easily 

 over floating vegetation in the marshes. Dr. James C. Merrill met 

 with the present species near Fort Brown, in Southwestern Texas, in 

 the early part of August, 1876. The bird is common throughout the 

 whole of Middle America, Mexico and Central America to Panama, in- 

 habiting the dense marshes of these regions, nesting like the Rails. 



The eggs are of a rounded-oval shape, ground color, bright drab 

 or tawny olive, marked over the surface with a confused net-work of 



*Birds and Eggs from the Farallon Islands. 



