OTSTER-CATCHEE. 3 



eggs are three or four in number, though Mr. Howard Saunders (Zool., 1866) 

 expresses great doubts as to any single bird laying more than three." 



The late Dr. Saxby, in referring to the breeding habits of the Oyster-catcher 

 in Shetland, writes * : — " The usual laying-time is about the end of May, although 

 eggs are sometimes found as early as the beginning of that month, but never later 

 than the middle of July. As the breeding season approaches, pairs of birds may 

 be seen some distance inland, flying high, and constantly uttering their loud 

 peculiar cries. The nest much resembles that of the Ringed Plover, only of 

 course it is larger, and it is found in the same situations, even on gravelly patches 

 some little distance from the sea ; the male, too, having a similar fancy for 

 constructing numerous others while his mate is sitting. They both watch it most 

 jealously, and will fly screaming overhead even before it contains eggs. Whether 

 situated upon the gravelly soil or upon the bare rock, either on the shore or on 

 the ledge of a cliff, where I have occasionally found it, the nest is always composed 

 of flat stones or pieces of shells. Sometimes, however, the site selected is a 

 grassy spot near the sea, and then the cavity is lined with dry grass. Writers are 

 given to dilate upon the wonderfid. instinct which prompts the Ringed Plover and 

 other birds of similar habits to cover the bottom of the nest Avith pebbles, shells, 

 or herbage, according to the situation in which it is placed ; unfortunately for the 

 credit of Oyster-catcher, it gathers withered dry grass only, which forms as great a 

 contrast with the surrounding bright green turf as if shells or pebbles had been 

 chosen instead. I have never seen more than three eggs in a nest, and have only 

 met with one very striking variety, having the ground colour pale greyish green. 

 The spots upon most eggs of this species are usually somewhat small, but now 

 and then a largely blotched and singularly streaked specimen will occur." 



The late Mr. E. T. Booth writes f : — " The Oyster-catcher chooses a variety of 

 situations for breeding-purposes, making but slight preparations for the accom- 

 modation of its expected brood. At the Fern Islands it lays its eggs in a mere 

 scratch in the shingle or sand at a short distance above high-water mark. Along 

 the coiu'se of several of the Scotch rivers, such as the Spey or the Tay, it forms its 

 humble cradle among the rough stones by the water-side, and is not unfrequently 

 deprived of its eggs or newly hatched brood by the floods that are caused by 

 storms among the hills. In many parts of the Highlands they rear their young in 

 a potato or oat-field, the female sitting plainly in view until the crops get up 

 sufficiently to afford concealment. While travelling by the Highland railway from 



* ' Birds of Shetland,' p. 175. 



t ' Eough Notes on Birds observed in the British Islands,' vol. ii. 



