PIED OYSTERCATCHER. 157 



FAMILY H^EMATOPODID^E. 



All Oystercatchers are referable to one genus, as lumpers consider the value of 

 that group, but the distinction of Prohcematopus Mathewswill later be fully acknow- 

 ledged. The group is undoubtedly ancient, as the distribution proves, the species 

 occurring on all shores save in the Arctic and Antarctic Circles and Polynesia. There 

 is little variation in the colour and size of the species, a dark unicolour series apparently 

 having independently evolved in different localities. Superficially with their long 

 bills and short legs they present a different appearance from, other Charadriiform 

 birds, and are seen to belong here by examination of the structural features of the 

 downy young. 



Genus H^MATOPUS. 



Hcematopus Linn6, Syst. Nat., 10th ed., p. 152, Jan. 1st, 1758. Type (by monotypy) r 



Hcematopus ostralegus Linne. 



Ostralega Brisson, Ornith., Vol. I., p. 46, Vol. V., p. 38, 1760. Type (by tautonymy) : H. 



ostralegus Linne. 



Ostrelaga Bonnaterre, Tabl. Ency. Meth. Ornith., Vol. I., pp. LXXXII., 25, 1791. Type (by 



monotypy) : H. ostralegus Linne. 



Ostralegus Reichenbach, Nat. Syst. Vogel, p. xii., 1852 (? 1853). Type (by original 



designation) : Hcematopus longirostris Vieillot. 



Melanibyx Reichenbach, ib. Type (by original designation) : H. niger Temminck. 



The Oystercatchers constitute a distinct family of birds, whose exact relation- 

 ships are somewhat obscure. 



They are Wading birds characterised by very long straight, laterally compressed 

 bills, long wings, short legs and stout feet. 



The bill is long and straight, laterally compressed in front of the nostrils, much 

 longer than the head and also longer than the tarsus ; the nostrils lie near the base 

 of the culmen as longitudinal slits, in a groove which extends along half the length 

 of the bill. The wings are long and pointed with the first primary longest and more 

 than twice the length of the tail which is square. Metatarsus short and thick and 

 entirely covered with somewhat hexagonal scales ; toes short and thick, with slight 

 webs between the basal phalanges, and the skin of the soles laterally extended. 

 Hind-toe entirely absent. 



109. Hcematopus ostralegus. PIED OYSTERCATCHER. 



[Hcematopus ostralegus Linn6, Syst. Nat., 10th ed., p. 152, Jan. 1st, 1758 : Sweden, Europe. 

 Extra-limital.] 



Gould, Vol. VI., pi. 7 (pt. xvni.), March 1st, 1845. Mathews, Vol. III., pt. 1, pi. 126, April 

 2nd, 1913. 



Hcematopus longirostris Vieillot, Nouv. Diet. d'Hist. Nat., Vol. XV., p. 410, Sept. 13th, 1817 : 



" Australasias " = New South Wales. 



Hcematopus picatus King, Survey Intertrop. Coasts Austr., Vol. II., p. 420, " 1827 " = April 



26th, 1826. No locality = Point Torment, North-west Australia. 



Hcematopus australasianus Gould, Synops. Birds Austr., pt. iv., App., p. 6, April 1st, 1838 : 



New South Wales. 



Hcematopus longirostris mattingleyiM&thews, Nov. Zool., Vol. XVIII., p. 213, Jan. 31st, 1912 : 



Cooktown, Queensland. 



DISTRIBUTION. Australia generally and Tasmania. 



Adult male. Head and neck all round, back, wings, and tail black ; lower back, 

 rump, upper tail-coverts, and base of tail white, like the breast, abdomen, axillaries, 

 and under tail-coverts ; under wing-coverts black margined and tipped with white ; 

 some of the feathers on the upper-breast fringed with white at the tips ; upper greater 

 wing-coverts broadly tipped with white ; secondary-quills white at the base with 



