172 



British Birds. 



THE OYSTER- 

 CATCHER. 

 {Ha-matoptis 

 ostralegus. I 



Waders, and is used b)- the bird for turning over stones in its search for food. 

 The colour of the male is of a ' Harlequin ' pattern, and is quite unlike that 

 of any other Plover. The dress of the young birds and of the old ones in 

 winter is much duller and browner. It is an autumn and spring migrant in 

 Great Britain, but a few remain throughout the winter, and it is probable that 

 the Turnstone may breed in the North of Scotland. It nests in Northern Europe 

 as far south as Denmark and the shores of the Baltic, and is known to occur 

 throughout the Arctic Regions of both the Old and New Worlds. As a rule 

 the Turnstone keeps in pairs, but a few may be found together in the autumn on 

 the sea-shore; it is entirel}' a shore-frequenting species, and is generally not very 

 shy. It feeds on insects which it searches for under stones. The nest is placed 

 on the ground, and is a little hollow in the latter, lined with a few dead leaves. 

 The eggs are four in number, of a greenish-grey or clay-brown colour, with 

 chocolate-brown and purplish-grey markings ; their length is about an inch-and- 

 a-half to an inch-and-three-quarters. 

 The Oyster- 

 Catcher has a 

 long and nar- 

 rowh' compres- 

 sed bill. Its 

 plumage consists entirely of black 

 and white, and it has pinkish legs 

 and a ring of vermilion round the 

 eye. It nests in certain localities 

 in England, but more plentifull}- in 

 Scotland and Ireland, along the 

 shores of some of the rivers and even 

 on inland lochs. It is found in simi- 

 lar localities all over Europe and as 

 far east as the Valley of the Ob, 

 while it winters in the Mediter- 

 ranean and on the Caspian and 



Red Sea coasts. In autumn and winter it collects m large flocks, and haunts the 

 sandy-shores left uncovered by the tide. I have kept several of these birds in 

 confinement, but they never became very tame, and their soft toes suflered greatly 

 when the ground became hard and frozen ; they were then nearly always lame. 

 The nest is a small hollow, lined with pieces of shells and little stones, and when in 

 the moss or peat, the nest is generally ornamented with limpet-shells. The eggs 

 are three in number, clay-brown to greenish-olive in colour, and lined or blotched 

 with blackish brown or purplish-grey; the length is from a little over two inches 

 to two-and-a-half inches. 



Thi; Ovster-Catcher. 



