H.EMATOPODID.E — THE OYSTER CATCHERS — ILEMATUPUS. 117 



means sliy, but would sit ou tlie rooks until he could almost toucli it ; tlien, utter- 

 ing a low whistling cry, it would dart ofl: to another skerry, repeating the same 

 manceuvre again and again. 



Dr. Cooper regards the Black Oyster Catcher as an eminently characteristic hird 

 of our Pacific coast. He adds that it is more common to the northward than to 

 the south, and that it is particularly partial to rocky coasts and islands, being rarely 

 met with on sand beaches. He found a few on Santa Barbara Island, in jNIay, 1863, 

 and discovered a nest on the od of June containing four fresh eggs, supposed to 

 have been a second laying. They were in a slight depression in the gravel, close 

 to the edge of a rocky cliff, against which the Avaves were dashing almost to its top, 

 and a very slight roll would have sent the water over them. The old birds, unlike 

 the Plovers, showed great solicitude for their eggs, both of them flying round close 

 to him, Avith a loud whistle, which was their only cry. 



Dr. Cooper describes their eggs as measuring from 2.28 to 2.40 inches in length, 

 and from 1.50 to 1.53 inches in breadth. They have a brownish-white ground, 

 sparsely blotched with markings of a light and of a darker brown. 



Dr. Cooper thinks that this species does not breed in any of the islands south of 

 Santa Barbara, as he met with none of them during the summer, and saw none along 

 the southern coast. He has noticed this species on the Farallon Islands in June, and 

 believes that this is the bird referred to by Dr. Heermann as H. Toumscndii of Audu- 

 bon, inasmuch as this latter has never been seen north of Panama. This last-named 

 species is one that may readily be recognized by its blood-red legs ; and Dr. Cooper 

 ventures the suggestion that Townsend really obtained his specimen of it from 

 South America, as it is now known that he did several other species of birds wrongly 

 credited to our coast. Dr. Cooper adds that there appears to be really very little, if 

 any, difference in the habits or cries of the ni(/er and those of the ^;i«Z//«fe<5, both of 

 which species associate together during the breeding-season. 



Mr. Dall mentions this bird as a summer visitor to the Aleutian Islands, and says 

 that it was seen both in ]Malashka and in the Shumegins. The eggs, partly incubated, 

 were obtained on Eange Island, Popoff Strait, June 23, 1872. There were two in one, 

 and one in another, nest, these being mere depressions in the gTavel of the beach, 

 with no lining whatever. The birds Avere exceedingly wary, and kept entirely out of 

 gunshot. When disturbed they uttered a peculiar low whistle, which, once heard, is 

 likely to be remembered ; and they have a habit of standing on the beach or rocks a 

 little way apart, and whistling, one calling and the other answering, keeping this up 

 for half an hour at a time. It is one of the most peculiar birds of that region, having 

 a grave, solemn, and stilted gait, and bobbing its head up and doAvn Avith CA^ery step 

 as it moves. 



Mr. H. W. Henshaw met Avith the Black Oyster Catcher in considerable numbers on 

 Santa Cruz Island, and AA\as informed that they occur on other islands of that group, 

 frequenting the little islets that are separated from the main island by narrow chan- 

 nels, and finding these breeding-grounds safe from the intrusion of their enemies. 

 Their short stout legs and feet adapt them for a life among the rocks, and they 

 obtain much of their food among the kelp and seaweed Avhich cover the slippery 

 rocks and shelter various crustaceans and mollusks. Their long, strong, and wedge- 

 like bill is admirably adapted for prying open bivalve shells. On Santa Cruz Island 

 they seemed to obtain a plentiful supply of food by feeding, along the sandy beaches, 

 on objects cast up by the Avaves or floating on the surface. Their movements ap- 

 peared rather clumsy, and as if they felt a little out of place. The birds were not 

 at all shy, and permitted Mr. Henshaw to approach them within thirty yards as 



