ILEMATOPODID.E — TIIK OYSTKR CATCHERS — ILEMATOrUS. 



115 



watchl'ul and stately manner, from time to time prol)ing the j,'roun(l with its bill in 

 search of food. The liard wand to which it resorts w,vs fonnd thickly perforated with 

 ol)lon>,' holes two or three inches in depth. The liddlir-cral), as well as ninssels, sport- 

 lisli, and a variety of other shell-hsli and sea-insects, with which those shores abound, 

 were its principal food. The inhal)itants of Kj^'j,' Harbor and those of other j)arts of 

 the coast did not credit its alleged feedin;,' upon oysters, statin},' that it is never seen 

 in their neif,'hborhood, but eontines itself .solely to the .sands; and this statement 

 Wilscm contirins, statinj,' that he has \iniforndy found it on the smooth beach border- 

 ing the ocean; and on the higher dry and level sands, just beyond the reach of tides, 

 and at ])oints where the dry flats are thickly interspersed with drifted shells, ho 

 usually found its nests between the middle and thtf 2i"ith of May. The nest is said 

 to be merely a slight hollow in the sand, and usually e()ntains three eggs, Avhich, when 

 fresh, have a bluish cream-colored ground, nuirked with large roundish spots of black, 

 and others of a fainter tint. In some eggs this blue tint was wanting, and in these 

 the blotches were larger and of a deep brown. The young wt-re hatched about the 

 2.")tli of May, and sometimes earlier ; Wilson himself found them running about the 

 hcacli at that period. When I visited tht; sandy islands off Cape Charles in June, 

 IHo'J, there were no young birds found, and all thi; eggs of this species were fresh — a 

 condition probably owing to the fact that their eggs had been previously taken, and 

 no opportunity afforded for their hatching at an earlier period. The j'oung birds are 

 described by Wilson as bchig at first covered with down of a grayish color, resendding 

 that of the sand, and marked with a .streak of blackish brown on the neck, back, and 

 rump, the breast being dusky where in the old birds it is black. Their bills are 

 slightly bent at the tip, and have a hard protuberance, which falls off in a few days 

 after they are hatched. They run along th(^ shore with great ease and swiftness. 

 The female sits on her eggs only during the night or during cold and rainy weather, 

 the heat of the sun and of the sand at other times rendering her presence unneces- 

 sary ; but she is said to watch the spot with anxiety and fidelity. The young follow 

 the mother from the shell, squat on the sand — from which they are with difficulty 

 difitinguished — whenever there is any danger, while both parents nmke large circuits 

 around the intruder, uttering repeated cries, and practising the common stratagem of 

 counterfeited lameness. Their note is said to be a loud and shrill whistling, like 

 whei'2)-inheej)-wheu sharply nttered. A Hock of these birds will often rise, descend, 

 and wheel in air with remarkable regularity, as if drilled to the practice ; at such 

 times the glittering white of their wings is very conspicuous. This peculiarity is 

 also mentioned by Jardine as having been noticed by him in the European ostvaloffus. 



The stomachs of the birds opened by Wilson contained fragments of shell-fish, 

 pieces of crabs and of the great king-crab, with some dark brown marine insects, 



Audubon claims to have met with this species in Labrador, and states that he 

 there found several breeding in the month of July. He afterward adds that he saw 

 this bird farther inland in Labrador than in any other part of the country. I am 

 only able to reconcile this statement with the remarkable rarity of this species from 

 Montauk Point to Grand Menan, and with the singular fact that we have no mention 

 by any other author of its appearance on that coast, by supposing that Mr. Audubon 

 was misinformed, or in some way misled in regard to its occurrence farther north. 



The eggs of this species vary in length from 2.25 to 2.45 inches, and in breadth 

 from 1.66 to 1.70 inches. Their gi-ound-color is a fawn-colored white, and their 

 markings are of bistre ; these are partly rounded spots, and partly irregular confluent 

 blotches, lines, and oblong dashes. The dark-bistre is occasionally washed with the 

 fawn-co\or of the ground, giving to these markings a diluted, neutral appearance. 



