BRITISH BIRDS' NESTS. 



259 



f ' 

 OYSTER-CATCHER. 



(Pfcematopus ostralegus.) 

 Order LIMICOL.E ; Family CHARADRIID.E (PLOVERS). 



Description of Parent Birds. 

 Length about sixteen inches. 

 Bill long, straight, and orange- 

 coloured. It is shaped like a 

 vertical wedge, a form which 

 renders it eminently useful for 

 dislodging limpets and other 

 univalves from rocks. Irides 

 crimson. Head, neck, back, 

 and wings black, with the ex- 



YOUNG OYSTER-CATCHER. Ce P tiOn f * Whit6 ' br ad > ^^ 



ing bar across the last. Rump 

 and upper half of tail white, lower half black. 

 There is a small patch of white under the eye. 

 Throat and upper part of breast black. Lower 

 breast and all the under-parts of the body white. 

 Legs and toes purple or bluish flesh colour ; claws 

 black. In the early spring the bird wears a white 

 collar or gorget on the neck, but this disappears 

 as the season advances. 



Situation and Locality. On the ground, amongst 

 the shingle and sand of the sea-shore. Pretty 

 generally in suitable localities round our coasts, 

 and frequently found quite inland on the banks 

 of rivers and lakes. It is most numerous in Scot- 

 land and the surrounding isles. In the Outer 

 Hebrides I have known a pair of birds use the same 

 nest three years in succession. 



Materials. A few shells or pebbles are often 

 used as a kind of pavement. Sometimes a few 



