AMEEIOAN OYSTER. CATCHER 315 



Winter. — The oyster catcher is resident throughout most of its 

 range, but it retires in winter from tlie northern portion of its breed- 

 ing range. Artliur T. Wayne (1910) says: 



In the winter the oyster catcher is very gregarious and it is not unusual to 

 see flocks containing from 20 to 75 individuals. The majority of these birds 

 are undoubtedly migrants from points to the northward of South Carolina and 

 not the resident breeding birds, which apparently go together in pairs or small 

 flocks of from 4 to 6 individuals. 



DISTRrBUTIO^^ 



Range. — ^Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the United States, Central 

 and South America. The American oyster catcher has been sub- 

 divided into several races the exact range of which it is not now 

 possible to define. This should be borne in mind in considering the 

 following outline, which undoubtedly includes the ranges of H. p. 

 durnfo7'di, H. p. p)rattii, and H. p. fitanay (Murphy). Generally 

 speaking, prattii is assumed to be confined to the Bahama Islands, 

 durnfordi the South Atlantic coast of South America, and pitanay 

 the Pacific coast of South America. 



The species is not migratory in a strict sense, although the exam- 

 ples breeding at the north and south extremes of the range probably 

 retire short distances toward the Equator when forced to do so by 

 climatic conditions. 



The range may be outlined as follows: North to Texas (Browns- 

 ville, Padre Island, Corpus Christi, and Galveston) ; Louisiana (Isla 

 a Pitre) ; probably rarely Alabama (Petit Bois Island) ; and for- 

 merly southern New Jersey (Great Egg Harbor). East to formerly 

 soutliern New Jersey (Great Egg ELarbor, and probably Seven-mile 

 Beach) ; probal^iy rarely Maryland (Ocean City) ; Virginia (Hog 

 Island, Cobb Island, and Smiths Island) ; North Carolina (Cape 

 Hatteras, Ocracoke Inlet, and mouth of Cape Fear River) ; South 

 Carolina (Waverly Mills, Raccoon Key, Bulls Bay, Sullivan Island, 

 and Frogmore) ; Georgia (Savannah, St. Simon Island, and Cumber- 

 land) ; Florida (St. Johns River, Charlotte Harbor, and probably 

 Cape Sable) ; the Bahama Islands ( Abaco, Andros, Long, Mariguana, 

 and Inagua Islands) ; probably Porto Rico (Desecheo Island) ; Vene- 

 zuela (Aruba, Curacao, and Cumana) ; Brazil (Santa Catherina, 

 Cajetuba, Rio de Janeiro, Sapetiba Bay, and Iguape) ; Uruguay (La 

 Paloma and Montevideo) ; and Argentina (Lavalle, Cape San An- 

 tonio, Mar Chiquita, and mouth of Chubut River). South to Argen- 

 tina (mouth of Chubut River) and Chile (Aiicud). West to Chile 

 (Ancud, Algarrobo, Santiago, Chanaral, and Atacama) ; Peru (San 

 Nicolas Bay, Independencia Bay, Pisco Bay, Chilca, and San 

 Lorenzo) ; Ecuador (Gulf of Guayaquil and Santa Elena) ; Panama 



