ORNITHOLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS. 



101 



worn and abraded, the black may have been much more conspicuous in 

 the fresh plumage. Further abrasion might perhaps have obliterated 

 the black edgings altogether, a possibility to be taken into account by 

 persons comparing these closely allied forms. I lind that Naumann 

 describes the bill of the young of the year of H. ostralegiis as having the 

 tip of the bill yellow. In my birds, when fresh, this part was decidedly 

 dark, and the dusky color is still very pronounced in the dried sj^eci- 

 mens. It may also be worth stating that my examples have no whitish 

 patch on the fore part of the neck, as is common in the European bird 

 when young. 



a'. Rnmp white., 

 b'. Upper tail-coverts pure white, without black edgiugs; bill shorter. 



H. ostralegtis Lin. 

 b". Tips of upper tail-coverts edged with black ; bill considerably longer. 



c'. Shafts of primaries from the third white before the tip ; second primary with 

 a broad white stripe along the border of the inner web. 



R. osciilans Swinh. 

 c^. Shafts of all the primaries wholly black ; second primary without white stripe 



on the inner margin H. longiroslris Vieill. 



a*. Rump dark, of the same color as the back H. palliatua Temm. 



List of specimens obtained. 



No. 92884. — Iris "raw umber.' 

 bluish flesh-color. 



Bill orange-red; tips dusky. Naked eye-ring orange. Feet pale 



The Oyster-catcher occurs only regularly along the coast of the penin- 

 sula, where I saw specimens shot in the latter part of May, 1883. Dur- 

 ing a short trip to Velutschka and Saranna, September, 1883, we met a 

 few families, out of which I only got two young birds on account of their 

 extreme shyness. The Russians of Kamtschatka apply to this bird 

 especially the name " Pe^Msc/to'A;" (pi. " Pe^i/sc/zH "), a chicken, a terra 

 used for Simorhynclius pygmwus by the natives of Bering Island, for 

 Leucosticte griseonucha by those living on the Prybiloff Islands (accord- 



