CHARADRID^E. 343 



and dull white mixed ; the rest of the bird as in the 

 former. Another shot in the winter has a small 

 white spot on the forehead ; the space between the 

 beak and the eye dull hair-brown ; head and nape 

 dull hair-brown and black mixed, but no white ; the 

 margins of the lesser wing-coverts have more rusty 

 in them than the last ; the chin and throat pure 

 white; the breast is black, a few of the feathers 

 slightly margined with white ; the rest of the bird as 

 in the first mentioned. 



The eggs, when fresh, are said to be greenish olive 

 in colour, marked with spots and streaks of dark 

 ash-colour and olive-brown or black.* 



OYSTERCATCHER, Hcematopus ostralegus. The 

 Oystercatcher, or " Sea-pie," as it is always called 

 by the sailors, perhaps more properly, for " Oyster- 

 catcher" is certainly a misnomer, though I have no 

 doubt it would deserve the name if it could, is 

 common all along our coast, and may at times be 

 seen in flocks of many hundreds : it is resident 

 throughout the year, and breeds in places suited 

 to it. The eggs are generally deposited on some 

 shingly beach, or under any rough grass, just above 

 high -water mark. I have known it breed, how- 

 ever, amongst the rocky parts of the shore of 

 Guernsey, though not in the numbers it does on the 

 lower parts. 



* Meyer's ' British Birds,' vol. v., p. 125. 



