OYSTER-CATCHERS. 487 



the stilts is formed in one way by the Peruvian avocet {R. andina), in which the 

 plumage of the upper-parts is black ; and in another by the banded avocet {R. 

 pectoralis), in which, while the plumage is pied, the beak is straight, and the first 

 toe wanting. The avocets include five species, having much the same distribution 

 as the stilts, with the exception that none breed in India or the adjacent countries. 

 The common avocet, which was formerly a frequent visitor to the fenny districts 

 of England, is characterised in the adult dress by the black upper surface of the 

 head and hinder part of the neck, and the white innermost secondaries ; the young 

 birds in their first plumage have the dark parts of the plumage brown, and the 

 secondaries barred with white. The total length of the bird is 18 inches. Owing 

 to drainage, the European breeding-places of the avocet are now restricted to 

 certain islands oflf Denmark and Holland, the marshes of Southern Spain, the delta 

 of the Rhone, and the lagoons of the Black Sea ; but to the eastwards it nests in 

 Palestine, Persia, Turkestan, the south-west of Siberia, etc., and also in Africa. In 

 winter these birds resort to India, China, and, more rarely, Japan ; and they reach 

 their European breeding-places in April and May, and depart in September. The 

 North American avocet (R. americana), ranging from the Great Slave Lake to 

 Texas, differs at all seasons by its white secondaries, and in the breeding-plumage 

 by the pale chestnut hue of the head and neck. The habits of the avocets are so 

 similar to those of stilts, that one account will serve for both ; and we may accord- 

 ingly close our notice with the following description of the appearance of a colony 

 of these birds on the Arkansas, observed by Dr. Coues. "The avocets," he writes, 

 " walked leisurely about, up to the belly in water, with graceful, deliberate steps, 

 each of which was accompanied by a swaying of the head and neck. When 

 approached too closely, they rose lightly from the water, uttering their peculiar 

 cries, flapped leisurely to a little distance, and again alighted to pursue their 

 peaceful search for food, forgetting, or at least not heeding, their recent alarm. As 

 they rose from the water, their singular long legs were allowed to dangle for a few 

 moments, but were afterwards stretched stiffly backwards, as a counterpoise to their 

 long necks ; and, thus balanced, their light bodies were supported with the greatest 

 ease by their ample wings. When about to re-alight, they sailed without flapping 

 for a little distance, just clearing the water, their legs again hanging loosely ; as 

 they touched the ground, their long wings were held almost upright for an instant, 

 then deliberately folded, and settled in place with a few slight motions." 



^ ^ ^ ^ ^ Much more stoutly built, and with shorter and thicker neck and 



Oyster-Catchers. ■,,■,,■,-.,, 



legs than the stilts, the oyster-catchers, or sea-pies, may be diagnosed 



by the metatarsus being inferior in length to the nearly straight and rather thick 



beak. The long and pointed wings extend, when closed, to about the extremity of 



the squared tail ; the beak is somewhat compressed and truncate at the tip, with 



considerable specific variation in outline ; but a small portion of the tibia is bare ; 



the reticulated metatarsus is short and stout ; and the first toe is wanting. The 



common oyster-catcher (Hcematopus ostralegus), which is a resident in the British 



Isles, is the typical representative of the genus, and while four other species 



resemble it in their pied plumage, the remaining two are black. The distribution 



of the genus is almost world-wide. Agreeing with all the other Old World forms 



in its dull crimson-red legs, the European species is specially characterised by the 



