184 AVES GRALLATORES. 



feathers edged with white ; the two middle ones darkest : bill, irides, and 

 feet, black. (Summer plumage.) Cheeks and upper part of the head 

 blaok, the feathers edged and variegated with ferruginous and white : 

 throat, neck, breast, and upper part of the flanks, reddish ash ; the central 

 portion of each feather black, the tip whitish : the rest of the under parts 

 pure white : back and scapulars deep ferruginous, with large irregular 

 patches and spots of black; all the feathers edged and tipped with 

 whitish: wing-coverts dusky brown, margined and tipped with white, 

 forming a transverse bar : the two middle tail-feathers blackish brown 

 with ferruginous edges. (Young of the year before the first moult. .} 

 " Feathers on the crown of the head, back, scapulars, and wing-coverts, 

 black, edged and spotted with yellowish ; between the bill and the eye a 

 cinereous brown streak; nape, sides of the neck, and sides of the breast, 

 pale gray, with fine undulating streaks ; forehead, throat, fore part of the 

 neck, and all the under parts, pure white: wings and tail as in the 

 adult." TEMM. (Egg.) Olive ground, spotted and speckled with black : 

 long. diam. one inch four lines; trans, diam. one inch. 



Not uncommon in small flocks on many parts of the coast, but rarely 

 observed inland. Is partial to sandy shores, feeding upon marine insects. 

 Breeds in high northern latitudes. Said to construct a rude nest of grass 

 in the marshes, and to lay four eggs ; incubation commencing in the 

 middle of June. 



GEN. 67. HJEMATOPUS, Linn. 

 170. H. ostralegus, Linn. (Pied Oyster-Catcher.) 

 Head, neck, and upper parts black : breast and abdomen 

 white: bill and feet red. 



H. ostralegus, Temm. Man. d'Orn. torn. 11. p. 531. Pied Oyster- 

 Catcher, Mont. Orn. Diet, and Supp. Oyster-Catcher, Bew. Brit. 

 Birds, vol. u. p. 113. Common Oyster-Catcher, Selb. Illust. vol. n. 

 p. 200. pi. 33. 



DIMENS. Entire length sixteen inches ten lines : length of the bill 

 (from the forehead) two inches nine lines, (from the gape) two inches ten 

 lines and a half; of the tarsus one inch eleven lines; of the tail four 

 inches two lines ; from the carpus to the end of the wing ten inches nine 

 lines : breadth, wings extended, thirty-two inches. 



DESCRIPT. ( Winter plumage.) Head, neck, upper part of the breast, 

 back, wings, and extremity of the tail, deep black ; a collar on the throat, 

 and a small spot beneath the eye, white : under parts, rump, basal por- 

 tion of the tail and quill feathers, and a transverse bar on the wings, 

 pure white: bill, and orbits, bright orange-red: irides crimson: feet 

 purplish red. The summer plumage is distinguished by the absence of 

 the white collar; in other respects similar. (Young of the year.) "The 

 black parts of the plumage shaded with brown, the feathers being edged 

 with this last colour; the white dull and soiled: bill and orbits dusky 

 brown : irides brown : feet livid gray." TEMM. (Egg.) Yellowish stone- 

 colour, spotted with ash-gray and dark brown: long, diam, two inches 

 two lines; trans, diam. one "inch six lines. 



Common on the coast, assembling in small flocks during the winter 

 season. Is never found inland. Feeds principally on marine insects and 

 the bivalve mollusca. Makes no nest, but deposits its eggs, two to four 

 in number, on the bare ground above high- water mark. The male bird 

 has a loud screaming note during the season of incubation. 



