THE OYSTERCATCHEE 



{Hoematopus ostndegus) 



This singular bird may best be described as the Magpie of 

 the shore, its black and white plumage, brilliant orange bill, 

 and pink legs, making it a very conspicuous object along the 

 precipitous coast. It is only occasionally that we meet with 

 the Oystercatcher on the mudflats and marshy shores, and 

 then in autumn and winter. It loves the lono; reaches of 

 rock-bound coast, which are occasionally varied by stretches 

 of sand and shingle, with quiet ba3's and creeks and lochs 

 which expose a considerable portion of rough beach at low 

 water. You may also often meet with this bird on low rocky 

 islands, even where there is little beach. The Oystercatcher 

 is the very life and animation of the coast. Wary and shy, it 

 is seldom you can approach him very closely. He rises into 



