248 OYSTER CATCHER 
months. Individuals which have been bred in high latitudes are 
more precise in their periods of migration than those bred in the 
south. In Kamtschatka, for instance, their southern migration 
is so regular that the month of October has received the name of 
the ‘Lapwing month’. In Britain their wanderings are both more 
uncertain and limited ; for, though they assemble in flocks in autumn, 
they only migrate from exposed localities to spots which, being 
more sheltered, afford them a better supply of food. 
In April and May these birds deposit their eggs, making no further 
preparation than that of bringing together a fewstalks and placing 
them ina shallow depression in the ground. The number of eggs is 
always four, and they are placed in the orderso common among the 
Waders, crosswise. Lapwings are to a certain extent social ,even 
in the breeding season, in so far that a considerable number usually 
frequent the same marsh or common. It is at this season that 
they utter most frequently their characteristic cry, a note which is 
never musical, and heard by the lonely traveller (as has happened 
to myself .more than once by night) is particularly wild, harsh, and 
dispiriting. Now, too, one may approach near enough to them to 
notice the winnowing movement of their wings, which has given 
them the name of Lapwing in England and Vanneau in France 
(from van,a fan). The young are able to run as soon as they have 
burst the shell, and follow their parents to damp ground, where 
worms, slugs, and insects are most abundant. When the young 
have acquired the use of their wings, the families of a district unite 
into flocks. They are then very wary, and can rarely be approached 
without difficulty ; but as they are considered good eating, many 
of them fall before the fowler. 
OYSTER CATCHER 
HEMATOPUS OSTRATEGUS 
THE plumage of this species is entirely black and white; head, 
neck, scapulars and terminal half of the tail black; rump, upper 
tail-coverts white ; legs and toes pink; eyelids crimson. Length, 
sixteen inches. The young have the feathers of the back and 
wings margined with brown. The Oyster Catcher inhabits the 
shores of Great Britain and Ireland throughout the year. The 
first time I came upon a flock of these birds I was able to approach 
them nearer than on any other occasion. They frequently uttered 
a harsh note in a high key which, though unmusical, harmonized 
well with the scenery. I had many other opportunities of 
observing them on the shores of the Scottish lochs, and I was 
