H.^MATOPUS. 181 



plumaLCC, but \\qx\. etc., more giunMsh, and feathers of upper parts margined 

 terminally with jjuIo butly or whitish. Length about 9.00, wing 5.80-6.10, 

 culmen .85-1.00. tarsus 1.00-1.10. Eggs 1.62 X 1-12, similar in coloration to 

 those of -1. intcrprcs. Hub. Pacific coast of Xorth America, north to Aleu- 

 tian Islands, south to Monterey, California ; accidental in India. 



284. A. melanocephala (Vir..). Black Turnstcne. 



Family H^MATOPODID^E.— The Oyster-catcher.s. (Page 143.) 



Genera. 



(Characters same as those given for the Family).. Haematopus. (Page 181.) 



Geni-s HiEMATOPUS Linn^us. (Page 181, pi. LI., fig. 2.) 



{Xest on or near sea-beach, consisting of a mere depression in sand, gravel, or 

 shingle. Eggs 2-4, ovate, light olive or olive-buffy, speckled or spotted with dark 

 brown, blackish, and purplish gray.) 



Species. 



Co.MMON Characters. — Bill bright red in the adult (drying to dull reddish or 

 yellowish) ; head, neck, and upper parts blackish (plumage entirely blackish in 

 some species). 



«'. Plumage parti-colored or pied (white beneath). 

 6'. Entire rump and lower back white. 



Adult : Head, neck, chest, and upper parts blackish ; lower back, 

 rump, upper tail-coverts, base of tail, greater wing-coverts, and 

 lower parts white. Adult in winter: "Diflfers from summer plu- 

 mage in having a white patch on throat, and the white spot under 

 the eye is rather larger." (Dresser.) Young : Similar, but black 

 portions more brown, the feathers of back and wings with rusty 

 borders, bill more brownish, etc. Downy young : "Head, neck, and 

 upper parts generally sooty grayish, the down tipped with rusty 

 buff, and variegated, especially on the crown and hack, with black ; 

 under-parts below throat black." (Dresser.) Length about IG.OO, 

 wing about 10.25, culmen 3.10, depth of bill at base .55. tarsus 2.00, 

 middle toe 1.40. Eggs 2.23 X l-S-*, deep dull buff, shai-ply spotted 

 (sometimes lined also) with vandyke-brown, brownish black, and 

 purplish gray. Hab. Sea-coasts of Europe, and of parts of Asia 

 and Africa ; occasional in Greenland. 



2S5. H. ostralegus Lixx. Oyster-catcter. 

 fc'. Entire rump and lower back dusky. 



c". Breast white, like belly, etc. ; bill very stout, its gi-eatest depth forward 

 of nostril exceeding .45 of an inch ; middle toe, with claw, more 

 than 1.75. 



