GC8 



THE OYSTEK-CATCHER. 



The eggs of this bird are laid in a hollow scraped in the 

 There is no nest excepting the sand. The colour of the 

 streaks and spots of hlack. 



The top of the head is rich chestnut, the forehead white, 

 above the white, and a slight streak of white passes near 

 black, and the edge of tlie neck is greyish white. The chin, 

 under parts are white, except a black collar which very 



sand or the fine shelly shingle, 

 eggs is yellowish olive, with 



with a black patch immediately 



the eye. The ear-coverts are 



sides of the throat, breast, and 



nearly crosses the breast, but 



leaves a white space in front. 



The back and upper jjarts 



are ashen brown, and the 



primaries dull black. The 



length of the adult bird is 



not quite seven inches. 



The handsome Oyster- 

 Catchkk is another of our 

 coast birds, and is tolerably 

 plentiful upon the shore. 

 From the black and white 

 hues of its plumage, it is 

 sometimes called the Sea-Pie. 

 It generally keeps to the 

 shore, haunting sandy bays, 

 .-. ., • '-Ai^-^sa-E.-^vv-o^s- interspersed with partially 



\\^C^j»4,- J^"^ "''\— s^^ 's-=^^''-''^^^^^^&s?!«;rf'^<- submersed rocks, and pick- 



ing up its subsistence with 



0YSTER-CATCHER,-7f,™idtoj.«s ostnikgns. g^g^t auiuiatioU. It fccds 



mostly on molluscs, mussels 

 and limpets being ordinary 

 articles of its food. It is able to detach the firmly-clinging limpet from the rock by 

 striking a sliai-p blow mth its wedge-like beak, and detaching the mollusc before it has 

 had time to take the alarm and draw itself firmly against its support. It is swift of foot, 

 and a good swimmer, frequently taking to the water in search of food, and being able to 

 dive when alarmed. Diving, however, does not seem to be a favourite accomplishment, 

 and is seldom resorted to unless under peculiar circumstances. 



In some parts of England, the Oyster-Catcher makes short inland migrations during 

 the summer, but even in such cases it displays its aquatic propensities by keeping near 

 the river banks, and feeding on the worms, slugs, and similar creatures. 



The nest of the Oyster-Catcher is merely a hole scraped in the gi'ound, wherein lie three 

 or four eggs of a yellowish olive, spotted with grey and brown. They are generally placed 

 on the beach well above high-water mark, but the bird sometimes makes its home at some 

 distance from tlie sea. The flat sandy coasts of Lincolnshire seem to be the localities most 

 favoured by the Oyster-Catcher. The young are covered with soft down of a gn-yish 

 brown colour. 



The head, neck, upper part of the breast, scapularies, quill-feathers, and latter half of 

 the tail-feathers are deep shining black, and the rest of the p)lumage is pui-e white. The 

 curious beak is three inches in length, very much compressed — i.e. flattened sideways — and 

 towards the point is thinned off into a kind of wedge or chisel-shaped termination. The 

 rich riuldy colour is deepest at the base. During some of the winter months there is no 

 white collar round the throat, and in the yearling bird the back and wings are mottled 

 with brown. The total length of the Oyster-Catcher is about sixteen inches. 



The handsomely plumed Turnstone is, though a little bird, so boldly decorated with 

 black, white, and ruddy orange, that it is more conspicuous upon the coast than birds of 

 double its size. 



