OYSTER-CATCHER 247 
the white about the head and neck becomes mottled with a 
similar colour; throat, whitish. 
Immature, male and female.—Feathers of the head, 
neck, back, scapulars, and wings, brownish, with sandy-buff 
edgings; throat, white ; neck-collar and upper breast, very 
dark brown; lower breast and abdomen, white. 
Brak. Blackish, slightly blunted at the end, and with 
a gentle upward curve. 
FEET. Deep orange. 
Iripes. Blackish-brown. 
AYERAGE MEASUREMENTS. 
TOTAL LENGTH ... 9 in. Female a little larger. 
WING ons eal Sea 
Brak ie aed ee 
'TARSO-METATARSUS es, ae 
Ge a iG: orl an, 
REFERENCE TO PLATE XVII. 
TURNSTONES. 
A. Adult male in transitional nuptial to winter-plumage. 
B, E, Fand G. Immature birds in autumn-plumage. 
C. Adult female in nuptial plumage. 
D. Adult male in nuptial plumage. 
OYSTER-CATCHER. Hematopus ostralegus (Linneus). 
Coloured Figures.—Gould, ‘Birds of Great Britain,’ vol. iv, 
pl. 45; Dresser, ‘Birds of HKurope,’ vol. vii, pl. 533: 
Lilford, ‘Coloured Figures,’ vol. y, pl. 18. 
This familiar bird (also called Sea-Pie because of its pied 
plumage) frequents the sandy as well as the rocky portions 
of our coasts. Small detachments of immature birds’, to- 
gether with those adults which remain to breed, may be 
‘In Belfast Lough, the late Sir R. Lloyd Patterson has counted 
eighty to one hundred Oyster-catchers in June and July. I have seen 
as many on the shores of Dublin Bay, but these flocks are very small in 
proportion to the thousands which assemble in autumn and winter. 
