2/6 CHARADRIIFORMES 



CHAP. 



Africa, India, and Ceylon. C. leucura, of similar range, winters 

 in Xorth-East Africa and North India. Dejilvp'pia crassirostris of 

 North-East, and D. leucoptera of South-East Africa, with very long 

 toes and much white on the wing, are nearly akin to the above. 

 Hoplo^pterus spinosus, the three-toed Spur -winged Lapwing of 

 Egypt and the northern Ethiopian Eegion, which wanders to 

 South-East Europe and Persia, is a crested black and white species 

 with a brownish back. The Arabs call it " Zic-zac " from its cry, 

 while it attacks birds on the wing with its spur. H. speciosus 

 occupies South Africa, H. cayanus most of South America, H. 

 centralis ranges from North and Central India to Hainan. 



Strepsilas interpres, the Turnstone, has the head, rump, tail, 

 and remiges black and white, the upper parts varied with chestnut 

 and black, the breast black, the belly white, and the feet orange, 

 with the hind toe turned inwards. In winter the coloration is 

 chieily grey and white. From its extensive migrations, it is 

 possibly the most cosmo])olitan of Birds, while it breeds in 

 Northern Europe, Asia, and America, and as near us as Denmark, 

 though not proved to do so in Britain. In autumn and spring 

 this lively little species frequents our muddy shores or seaweed- 

 covered rocks, often turning over the pebbles in search of food ; 

 the note is a twitter or whistle ; the nest a slightly-lined excava- 

 tion under shelter of some maritime shrub or stone, containing four 

 grey-green eggs, marked with olive-brown. ;S'. melanocephalus, of 

 the Pacific coast of North America, lacks chestnut tints. Aphriza 

 virgata, the Surf- bird, a brownish species with white alar bar, 

 rump, and abdomen, found from Alaska to Chili, may perhaps be 

 placed here. The position of the scarce Patagonian Pluvianellus 

 sociabilis, which is chiefly grey above and white below, is equally 

 doubtful. Both species lack the hallux. Haematopius ostralegus, 

 the Oyster-catcher, inhabits Europe and Central Asia, extending 

 as the form H. osculans to China and Japan ; in winter 

 it reaches Senegambia, Mozambique, Ceylon, and South China. 

 From the black head, neck, and mantle, white lower back, under- 

 parts, wing-bar, and base of tail, it is called the Sea-Pie ; while 

 a habit of opening mussels with the long wedge-shaped bill gives 

 it the name of Mussel-picker. Oyster-catcher seems a misnomer, 

 but worms, crustaceans, and so forth vary the diet. It frequents 

 shores and inland ri^^ers, depositing three, or rarely four, oval drab 

 eggs, with blackish and grey markings, on sand, shingle, or rocks. 



