LIMICOLsE. ( 231 ) CHARADRIID& 



THE OYSTER CATCHER. 



SEA PIE, SEA PIET, PIANET, MUSSEL PICKER. 



Hcematopus ostralegus. 



The seamew, seapye, gull, and curlew, here doe keepe, 

 As searching every shole and watching every deepe, 

 To find the floating fry , with their sharpe piercing sight, 

 Which suddenly they take by stoupingfrom their height. 



DRAYTON, Polyolbion. 



THE coast of Berwickshire is so precipitous that it is not 

 suited to the habits of the Oyster Catcher, and on that 

 account the bird is not much seen on the shores of the 

 county. Mr. Hardy records that it is sometimes noticed 

 in the neighbourhood of Redheugh and Siccar Point in 

 spring and autumn. 1 It is fond of frequenting sandy bays, 

 with banks of shingle, where it feeds on molluscs and 

 marine insects. Mr. John Thomson has informed me that 

 an Oyster Catcher was seen at Mertoun in December 1881. 

 Sir William Jardine records that a specimen was killed at 

 Dryburgh. 



1 Hist. Ber. Nat. Club, vol. vii. p. 110 ; also vol. ix. p. 404. 



