8 BRITISH BIRDS. 



extraordinary situations, as, for instance, in a field and on the trunk of a 

 felled pine-tree. 



The eggs of the Oyster-catcher are three, and occasionally four, in 

 number, sometimes only two, but three is the usual clutch. The ground- 

 colour is pale buff, sometimes pale brownish buff, blotched, spotted, and 

 streaked with dark brown and with underlying markings of grey. Some 

 eggs are much more streaked than others ; some are uniformly spotted over 

 the entire surface, others have most of the markings in an irregular zone 

 round the large end. They vary in length from 2'35 to 2'07 inch, and in 

 breadth from 1*6 to 1*47 inch. Some eggs of the Oyster-catcher are 

 indistinguishable from exceptionally dark eggs of the Stone-Curlew; 

 but the latter are, on an average, smaller, and the markings are not 

 so dark and decided : others somewhat resemble certain varieties of 

 those of the Sandwich Tern. One brood only appears to be reared in 

 the year; but should the first clutch of eggs be destroyed, others will 

 be laid. The female performs the duties of incubation, and whilst this is 

 in progress her mate is an ever- watchful sentinel, ready to give warning 

 at the least approach of danger, when both birds rise screaming in the air, 

 and fly wildly to and fro. The Oyster-catcher is a very conspicuous bird, 

 and therefore leaves its eggs at the approach of danger to the safety which 

 their protective colour secures for them. It is wonderful how closely the 

 eggs resemble the surrounding pebbles and shingle. The old birds fly 

 round and round uttering their shrill note, then perhaps alight on some 

 distant rock, where they watch anxiously the doings of the intruder, ever 

 ready to dart into the air again and renew their noisy clamour. As soon 

 as the young are hatched they are led by their parents to the margin of the 

 waves, where they soon learn to forage for themselves. At the least alarm 

 the little creatures crouch close to the ground, the colour of their down 

 being so protective in tint as to make their discovery very difficult. 



As the season advances the Oyster-catchers become more gregarious, 

 and the broods and their parents, together with the little parties that have 

 kept close company through the summer, unite into flocks of greater or less 

 extent, and throughout the winter roam the coasts in search of food, often 

 wandering far from their usual summer haunts. Numbers of Oyster- 

 catchers from North Europe also arrive on our shores in autumn to spend 

 the winter, and are repeatedly taken on migration in the flight-nets on 

 the Lincolnshire coast. 



All the upper parts of the Oyster-catcher are black, with the exception 

 of the rump and upper tail-coverts, the basal half to two thirds of the 

 tail-feathers, and a broad band across the wing, formed by the greater 

 wing-coverts and some of the secondaries, which are white. The primaries 

 are also more or less marked with white. The underparts are white, 

 with the exception of the chin, throat, and breast, and a few of the 



