GRALL.E — CHARADRID.E — ILEMATOPUS. 217 



GENUS ILEMATOPUS. Lnaum 



Bill long, compressed, stout, cuneate ; the tip much compressed. Nostrils basal, oblong- 

 linear, pervious, placed in a short furrow. Feet three-toed ; all directed forward ; the 

 outer and middle connected as far as the fiist joint: all the toes bordered with a narrow 

 membrane. 



THE AMERICAN OYSTER-CATCHER. 



H^EMATOPUS palliatus. 



PLATE LXXX. FIG. 183. 



(STATE COLLECTION.) 



Pied Oyster-catcher. Pennant, Arrt. Zoot. Vol. 2, p. 489. 



H. ostralegus. Wilson, Am. Ornithology, Vol. 8, pi 64, fig. 2. Bonaparte, Ann. Lye. Nat. Hist. N. Y. Vol. 



2, p. 3C0. Nuttall, Man. Orn. Vol. 2, pp. 12 and 15. 

 H. palliatus. Temmikck. Man Orn. Vol 2, p. 532. 



H. id. Bonaparte, Oss. sulla seronda editione del Regno Animale, p. 94. Id. Geog. and Comp. List, p. 46. 

 H. id. Audubon, Birds of Am. Vol. 5, p. 236, pi. 324. Giraud, Birds of Long island, p. 222. 



Characteristics-. Head, neck ^ik\ throat brownish black. Back, scapularies and wings ash- 

 brown. TJie first three primaries of a uniform color. Length, 18 - 0. 



Description. Bili stout, and particularly so at its deepest part. Naked portion of the 

 tibia, and the tarsus with hexagonal scales. Wings long and pointed ; the first quills longest. 

 Tail short, somewhat rounded, of twelve rounded feathers. 



Color. Bill red. Feet reddish. Head, neck and throat glossy black : lower eyelids white. 

 Tips of the secondary coverls, outer secondaries, and breast and all beneath pure white. 

 Irides yellow. Base of the tail-feathers white ; beyond this, ashy brown. 



Length, 17-0- 190. 



The Oyster-catcher, or as it is better known among our gunners by the name of Flood 

 Gull, is not very common on the coast of this State. Its eggs are cream-colored, spotted 

 with brownish black. It feeds on oysters and other marine bivalves. The flesh is tough and 

 unsavory. It breeds from Texas to Labrador, and ranges from the tropics to the fifty-second 

 parallel. 



(EXTRA-LIMITAL.) 



H. ba.chm.ani. (Abd. Birds of Am. Vol. 5, p. 243, pi. 325.) Bill and edges of the eyelids vermilion. 



General color uniform brownish black. Feet whitish. Length, 17-5. Northwest Coast. 

 H. towusendi. (Id. ib. Vol. 5, p. 245, pi. 326 ) Uniform brownish black. Wing-coverts narrowly 



edged with white. Feet red. Length, 20-0; of bill, 3*3. Northwest Coast. 



[Fauna— Part 2.] 28 



