SKETCHES OP EUROPEAN ORNITHOLOGY. 255 



A beautiful figure of the male and female, delineated with the usual 

 felicity of Mr. Gould's pencil. At a first glance, this rare species 

 might be mistaken for the Reed Bunting ; but the slightest examina- 

 tion would serve to discover the difference. The Rustic Bunting is 

 one of the birds which have at best a doubtful claim to a place in the 

 fauna of Europe. Siberia, Kamtschatka, and the adjacent isles con- 

 stitute its native abode : it is said, however, to have occurred within 

 the limits of the north-eastern frontiers of our continent. Of its his- 

 tory nothing is known ; but we may reasonably conclude that its 

 habits resemble those of the rest of the genus. Mr. Gould informs 

 us that his figures were taken from specimens in the Museum at 

 Frankfort. 



Oystercatcher, Hazmatopus ostralegus, Lin. — Huiterier pie, Ft. — 

 Geschackte austernfischer, G. The figure of this bird is of the na- 

 tural size. Though tolerably good, it is not one of the best of Mr. 

 Gould's efforts : the attitude is awkward, and does not convey the 

 idea of an active swift-footed bird tripping along the sands, " and yet 

 no footing seen." The Oystercatcher is a species very widely dif- 

 fused and well known to naturalists. It frequents various parts of 

 our shores, its favourite spots being low sandy beaches, from which 

 the tide retires and upon which it finds its food, as mollusks, Crusta- 

 cea, &c. The strength and shape of the bill admirably fit it as an 

 instrument for detaching Limpets from the rocks, or for insertion 

 between the valves of Mussels, Oysters, and the like. This hand- 

 some bird is no less distinguished for sweeping velocity on the wing 

 than for activity on the shore : it also swims with great facility, and 

 is even capable of diving. Wilson observes of the American species 

 — which, by the bye, he confounded with that of Europe — that, when 

 wounded, it not only takes to the water and swims, but that it also 

 dives well ; and he adds the following : — " On the sea-beach of Cape 

 May, not far from a deep and rapid inlet, I broke the wing of one of 

 these birds, and, being without a dog, instantly pursued it towards the 

 inlet, which it made for with great rapidity. We both plunged in 

 nearly at the same instant, but the bird eluded my grasp and I sunk 

 beyond my depth. On rising to the surface, I found the bird had 

 dived ; and a strong ebb current was carrying me fast towards the 

 ocean. Encumbered with my gun and all my shooting apparatus, I 

 was compelled to relinquish the bird and to make for the shore, with 

 considerable mortification and the total destruction of the contents of 

 my powder horn. The wounded bird afterwards rose and swam with 

 great buoyancy out among the breakers." Mr. Gould states, that the 



