THE OYSTER CATCHER 



H^MATOPUS OSTRALEQVS 



TrILLEACHAN, GrLIiE-BEiaHDE, GUiLE-BRIDEIN [Gaelic) ; HvlTRIER 



PIE [French) ; Austernfischer [Qerman). 



A CURIOUS and quite misplaced name has been given to 

 this handsome bird, and it would be not a little instructive 

 to discover the origin of its cognomen. As far as I know, 

 the diet of the Oyster Catcher never embraces an oyster, 

 and the Irish name given to this bird — ^that of Mussel 

 Picker — is decidedly more appropriate. 



Like another Highland bird, the Common Gull, the 

 Oyster Catcher would seem to have two distinct habits, 

 according to the coasts it frequents. On the west coast-line 

 of Scotland it is found nesting in considerable numbers, 

 but along the eastern seaboard — at all events, along those 

 parts with which I am familiar — it is only as a winter 

 visitor that the Mussel Picker is known. Early in March 

 the birds leave the river estuaries, and make their way 

 in pairs up the rivers, moving in easy stages of only a few 

 miles each day, and marking time should wintry weather 

 be experienced. Along the rivers Dee and Spey the 

 Oyster Catcher is found in considerable numbers. On 

 the Dee it nests four miles from the estuary, and thence 

 up to a point ten miles west of Braemar and, by river, 

 close on eighty miles from the North Sea. In like 

 manner it frequents the Spey and its tributaries almost 

 to their sources. For instance, in the Forest of Gaick 

 it is numerous on the flat between Loch an t-Seilich and 

 Loch Bhrotain, 1500 feet above sea-level. Above this 



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