OYSTERCATCHER AND 

 TURNSTONE 



[ORDER: Charadriiformes. SUBORDER: Limicolce. FAMILY: Charadriidce. 



SUBFAMILY: Hcematopodince] 



PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 



[W. FARREN. F. C. R. JOURDAIN. W. P. PYCRAFT. A. L. THOMSON] 



OYSTERCATCHER [Hcemdlopus ostralegus Linnaeus. Sea-pie, olive, 

 mussel-picker ; shelder (Shetlands). French, huitrier pie ; German, Austern- 

 fischer ; Italian, beccaccia di mare]. 



I. Description. The oystercatcher may at once be distinguished by the 

 long, blunt-pointed, orange- vermilion beak, and the strongly contrasted black and 

 white plumage. The sexes are alike, and there is a slight seasonal change of colora- 

 tion. (PI. 121.) Length 16'5 in. [419'1 mm.]. The head, neck, mantle, and wings 

 are black, contrasting strongly with the lower back, rump, and the basal half of the 

 tail which are white, like the breast and abdomen. The median and major wing- 

 coverts are white, and the innermost primaries have a patch of white along the 

 middle region of the outer web. The beak and the rim of the orbits are orange- 

 vermilion, the iris carmine, the legs and feet flesh-coloured. After the autumn 

 moult the white spot under the eye becomes larger, and a band of white extends 

 backwards from the chin to join a broad white band extending from the ear-coverts 

 across the throat. In the juvenile plumage the greater wing-coverts, innermost 

 secondaries, and scapulars have pale buff margins, while the longest upper tail- 

 coverts are barred across the tips with black and buff. After the autumn moult 

 the black is suffused with brown, and the white bar appears on the throat. The 

 young in down are of a pale buff above, mottled with grey, relieved by a more or 

 less distinct black patch on the crown, two longitudinal stripes along the back, and 



VOL. III. 3D 



