NESTING-SERIES OF BRITISH BIRDS. 77 
No. 109. OYSTER-CATCHER. (Hiematopus ostralegus.) 
The “ Sea-Pie,’’ as this species is often called, is a common resident 
on the shores of the British Islands, but most numerous during 
the colder months of the year, when its numbers are augmented by 
migrants from the Continent. Its food consists of crustaceans, as well 
as mussels, whelks and limpets, which are extracted from their shells by 
the bird’s powerful bill. It breeds on the sea-shore above high-water 
mark or on the stony beds of rivers: no real nest is made, but a slight 
hollow is usually scraped in the sand or shingle and often lined with 
fragments of shells. The eggs, generally three in number, are pale 
toto me io) 
brownish-buff, spotted and streaked with dark brown and ash-grey. 
Islands of Scilly, June. 
Presented by Edward Bidwell, Esq. 
No. 110. KNOT. (Tringa canutus.) 
A regular visitor to the British coasts, arriving from the north in 
large flocks in autumn and remaining till May, when all except the 
non-breeding birds return to North Greenland, Arctic America, and 
North-western Siberia. On the 30th of July, 1876, Colonel Feilden, 
when naturalist to H.ML.S. ‘ Alert,’ found this species breeding near a 
small lake on Grinnell Land in lat. 82° 33!’ N., and obtained the old 
and young birds exhibited in the Case. 
The four pear-shaped eggs have the ground-colour pale green or 
yellowish-white blotched and spotted with dark brown and violet-grey 
(ef. ‘Ibis, 1904, p. 233). 
In winter the plumage of the upper-parts is ash-grey and the under- 
parts are white spotted with grey. 
Presented by Colonel H. W. Feilden, C.B. 
No. 111. CURLEW. (Numenius arquata.) 
This species is common on the British coasts throughout the year ; 
but in spring the adult birds retire inland to the moors and uplands 
for nesting-purposes. In summer the food consists of berries, worms, 
molluses, ete., but im winter crustaceans and other marine animals are 
eaten. The nest, a slight hollow in the ground, lined with bits of dry 
herbage, is usually situated among heather, bog-myrtle, or grass. The 
four large pear-shaped eggs vary in tint from olive-green to brownish- 
buff, and are spotted and blotched with brown and purplish-grey. 
Inverness-shire, April. 
Presented by Lord Lovat. 
