250 CHAEADEIID^E 



beats of the wings are regular, and the flight, as a rule, is 

 very straight. 



Nest. The nesting-sites vary considerably. Thus, while 

 low-lying, sandy flats, strewn with shingle and fine gravel, 

 form one resort, rocky shores form another. This species 

 breeds in large numbers on islands round our coasts. On 

 the Irish sea-board I have found the nest built on grass- 

 grown reefs, 1 or on rock - platforms at high elevations. 



" On the north coast of Mayo Mr. Warren has found 

 Oyster-catchers nesting in the fields close to the cliffs, as 

 well as on the rocks and islands" (Ussher), and where 

 islands are lofty the nests are often placed on the tops of 

 these, where ferns and grass sprout among knobs of rock. 

 In Scotland, especially in the eastern section, this bird 

 breeds not only on the coast, but also along the margins 

 of large rivers at some distance from the tide ; in Ireland, 

 after several searches during many years, I have failed to 

 find the nest in inland situations. The nest is usually a 

 mere hollow in the rock or soil, and sometimes contains 

 pebbles or dry rabbit-dung ; blades of withered grass occa- 

 sionally form a lining when the nest is placed in fields, 

 while fragments of stems, fern-fronds, and morsels of dry 

 seaweeds may be picked from the general surroundings. 

 Or again, the eggs may be deposited in a depression in a 

 clump of growing thrift, which is pressed under the sitting- 

 bird and forms a lining without the addition of any loose 

 material. 



The eggs, normally three in number, are light stone- 

 colour (though I have seen fresh ones of a warm buff shade), 

 spotted and sometimes streaked in an irregular or a zig-zag 

 manner with light and dark brown. Incubation begins in 

 most districts about the end of April. 



The natural timidity of the Oyster- catcher gives place to 

 boldness amounting to fearlessness when its nesting-haunts 

 are intruded upon. Many a time have I seen a pair of these 

 birds advance towards me and ere I came within two 

 hundred yards of their downy young, scold me with loud and 

 incessant alarm-notes, all the while their mouths gaping 

 widely, as they fluttered swiftly to and fro a few feet above 

 my head. 



1 I have discovered the nest in this situation on Ireland's Eye, one 

 of the few breeding-haunts on the east coast of Ireland. 



