OYSTER- CATCHER i 7 5 



OYSTER-CATCHER. Hxmatopus ostralegus (Linnaeus). 

 PI. 22, figs. 3, 3a. Length, 16 in.; bill, 2-5 in.; wing, 

 10 in. ; tarsus, 1"75 in. 



The Oyster-catcher, Sea-pie, or Olive, as it is 

 variously called, may be found on some part of the 

 coast throughout the year. It is migratory in 

 spring and autumn, when it is sometimes met 

 with at a considerable distance from the sea ; as, 

 for example, in Warwickshire (ZooL, 1895, p. 22). 



On every channel island on the Tay and its 

 tributaries, on the Spey and all the larger East 

 Coast rivers, far up towards their sources, pairs of 

 Oyster-catchers may be seen during the breeding 

 season. In some places they breed commonly, as 

 at Dalguise, between Dunkeld and Ballinluig, where 

 it is said their eggs are gathered for sale like 

 Plovers' ejigs (Proc. Nat. Hist. Soc. Glasg., 1880, 

 p. Q7). In autumn they return to the coast. I 

 have often observed them in August and September 

 in small flocks on the shores of Loch Linnhe in 

 Argyllshire. 



A curious variety of the Oyster-catcher, from 

 the Faroes, was in the collection of the late 

 Frederick Bond, and a similar one, also from the 

 Faroes, was in the possession of Mr. Harvie-Brown. 

 The head and neck were of a pale brown or coffee- 

 colour, a few brown feathers on the scapulars, the 

 rest of the plumage white ; bill, legs, and feet 

 yellow, instead of flesh-colour. 



As to origin of the name. Oyster-catcher, see 



