_ 
424 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 
Famiry HA MATOPODID. Tue OystTER-CATCHERS. 
Bill as long as the head, or twice as long, compressed; culmen but: little 
indented, and the bill not vaulted beyond the nostrils, which are quite basal. 
HAEMATOPUS, Linnzxvs. 
Hematopus, Linn =vs, Syst. Nat. (1735). (Type H. Ostralegus, L.) 
Bill longer than the leg, twice as long as the head; mandibles much compressed, 
sharp-edged, and truncate at end; hind toe wanting; legs reticulated, with five or 
six elongated plates in a transverse series; meshes larger anteriorly; a basal mem- 
brane between middle and outer toes; toes enlarged laterally by a thickened 
membrane; tail even; first primary longest. 
HEMATOPUS PALLIATUS. — Temm. 
The Oyster-catcher. 
Hematopus palliatus, Temm. Man., II. (1820) 582. Aud. Orn. Biog., III. 
(1835) 181; V. 580. Jb., Birds Am., V. (1842) 236. 
Hematopus ostralegus, Wilson. Am. Orn., VIII. (1814) 15. 
DESCRIPTION. 
Bill long, straight, flattened vertically; wing long; tail short; legs moderate, 
rather robust; toes margined; outer and middle united at base; head and neck 
brownish-black, with a slight ashy tinge in very mature specimens; upper parts of 
body light ashy-brown, rather darker on the rump; upper tail coverts and wide 
diagonal band across the wing white; quills brownish-black; tail feathers at base 
white, with their terminating half brownish-black; under parts of body and under 
wing coverts white; bill and edge of eyelids bright orange-red; legs pale-reddish; 
iris bright-yellow. 
Total length, about seventeen and a half inches; wing, ten; tail, four and a half; 
bill to gape, three and a half; tarsus, two and a quarter inches. 
HIS bird is of rare occurrence on the seacoast of New 
England as a summer visitor. I am not aware that it 
breeds here; but it may, as it is said to be found all along 
our coast from Maine to Florida. Wilson, in describing its 
habits, says, — 
“The Oyster-catcher frequents the sandy sea-beach of New 
Jersey, and other parts of our Atlantic coast, in summer, in small 
parties of two or three pairs together. They are extremely shy; 
