WILD SPORTS OF THE HIGHLANDS 



They lay very large eggs, of a greenish brown colour 

 mottled with black; both these birds and pewits soon be- 

 come tame and familiar if kept in a garden or elsewhere, 

 watching boldly for the worms turned up by the gardener 

 when digging. The oyster-catcher's natural food appears 

 to be shell-fish only; I see them digging up the cockles with 

 their powerful bill, or detaching the small mussels from the 

 scarps, and swallowing them whole, when not too large; 

 if, however, one of these birds finds a cockle too large to 

 swallow at once, he digs away at it with the hard point of 

 his bill till he opens it, and then eats the fish, leaving the 

 shell. 



It is acurious factwith regard to this bird, that if it drops 

 winged on the sea, it not only swims with great ease, but 

 dives, remaining under water for so long a time, and rising 

 again at such a distance, that I have known one escape out 

 to sea in spite of my retriever, and I have watched the bird 

 swim gallantly and with apparent ease across the bay, or 

 to some bank at a considerable distance off. The feet of the 

 oyster-catcher seem particularly ill-adapted for swimming, 

 as the toes are very short and stiff in proportion to the size 

 of the bird. Most of the waders, when shot above the water 

 and winged, will swim for a short distance, but generally 

 with difficulty; none of them, however, excepting this bird, 

 attempt to dive. 



When in captivity the oyster-catcher eats almost any- 

 thing that is offered to it. From its brilliant black and white 

 plumage and red bill, as well as from its utility in destroy- 

 ing slugs and snails in the garden, where it searches for 

 them with unceasing activity, it is both ornamental and 



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