380 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I50 



These large shorebirds are found now mainly in the Pearl Islands 

 where they are widely distributed, but nowhere common, on rocky 

 coasts. On the mainland I have seen them on unfrequented sand 

 beaches on the coast of Los Santos and at the mouth of the Rio 

 Maje in eastern Panama near the frontiers of Darien. But only in 

 work in the Pearl Islands have I encountered them regularly. Arce 

 secured one that is labeled "Veragua," but there are no other records 

 for western Panama. And the species has not been reported for the 

 long reach of the Caribbean coast. 



Fig. 65. — American oystercatcher, ostrero bianco, Haematopus palliatus pitanay. 



Usually oystercatchers are found in pairs on rock flats near the 

 water, and are wary so that it is necessary to stalk them behind cover 

 to secure specimens. They nest in February and March and then 

 call by day and night, though at other seasons they are vocal mainly 

 when disturbed. 



They eat small mollusks, the strong bill with both upper and 

 lower halves compressed at the tip being specially adapted to secure 

 such food. One taken on Isla San Jose had opercula of the abundant 

 snail Nerita and a bit of barnacle in its stomach. 



On March 20, 1948, on the beach at La Honda, near the mouth 

 of the Estero Espigadilla, in northern Los Santos, I collected a pair, 

 and by following their tracks in the loose sand located their nest. 



