400 OYSTERCATCHER AND TURNSTONE 



the old birds fly close around, piping and mobbing frantically. Other 

 birds nesting near join in, when the clamour assumes most bewilder- 

 ing proportions. It has been stated that the birds remove the empty 

 egg-shells from the vicinity of the nest. 1 



The downy covering of the chicks is protective in colour and 

 texture, and differs considerably from that of the generality of Waders. 

 It is a " tabby " like mixture of black and grey, short and close, and 

 in texture not unlike the down of the young stone-curlew. They 

 crouch low in response to the warning cries of their parents, but lack 

 sufficient patience to profit fully from their protective coloration, 

 often struggling up on to their thick legs and running piping thinly 

 as they go when they would be safer from detection crouched on the 

 ground. Mr. Kirkman tells me that he once found a fully fledged 

 young bird crouching, as if lifeless, in seaweed drift. It permitted 

 him to pick it up and drop it four or five times, before it chose to 

 come to life and run away. The young grow very fast, and it is said 

 that they can fly in about three weeks. 2 



Flocking commences in July, when the inland nesting birds make 

 their way to the coasts. Mr. Seton Gordon states that many birds 

 remain inland throughout August and even during part of September. 3 

 The same observer has noticed that when uttering the double alarm- 

 note that syllabled " heep-a heep-a " or " my-feet " -the oystercatcher 

 modifies its wing-beats to the time of the note, which is " uttered half 

 during the upward stroke and half during the downward." This 

 necessitates a slower action of the wings than usual. 4 This habit of 

 flying in time with a note, especially when the young are in danger, 

 may be observed in other species. 



Early in August flocks of oystercatchers, chiefly birds of the 

 year, appear on the east coast ; these are probably home-bred birds 

 taking part in the general southward movement. About the same 

 time, or a little later, there is an influx from the Continent, and from 



1 Birds of Loch and Mountain, p. 100. 2 Field, 1890, vol. Ixxvi. p. 214. 



3 Birds of Loch and Mountain, p. 102. 4 Ibid., p. 104. 



