II.KM.VTOPODID/E — THE OYSTER CATCHERS — ILIOrVTi H'US. 



113 



basal Imir of thu secoiiilarit's, upper tail-coverts, sides of the rump, basal portion lA tin- tail, and 

 the entire lower parts pure white. Bill (in lite) rich verniilidii, most intense on mi<l(lle third, 

 basal third more scarlet, the tip yellowish ; eyelids rich vermilion ; iris briL;lit yellow ; legs and 

 feet pale dull fleshy wliitcv' Ynung: Head and neck dusky Ijlack, the pileum and cheeks speckled 

 with dull fulvous, and the feathers surrounding the base of tlie bill whilisli ; upper parts grayish 

 brown, each feather widely margined with pale fulvous or dull Ijulf. Otherwise much like the 

 adult, but upper tail-coverts tijiped with bufl', l)ill brownish, iris brown, and feet dull livid grayish. 

 Downy ijouiifj: Head and neck dull light cinereous, finely mottled with darker, and with a narrow 

 postocular line of black ; rest of upper parts light fulvous gray, finely mottled with darker, and 

 relieved by two narrow stripes of black, wliich extend, parallel to one another, from the upper part 

 of the back to the rump. Lowin' parts, from the jugulum back, immaculate wliite. Bill dusky, 

 the basal half of tlie mandible dull orange ; iris brown ; legs and feet pale dull flesh-color. 



Total length, 17 to 21 inches ; extent, 32 to 36. Wing, 9.75 to 11.00 ; culmen, 3.00 to 3.70 ; 

 tarsus, 2.0o to 2.o.j ; niddle toe, 1.20 to 1.55. 



Specimens from nearly all parts of the range of the species have been compared. There is 

 little, if any, variation in colors, but the dimensions vary with the individual. Two Chilian 

 examples have the smallest bill, the culmen nxeasuring respectively 3.00 and 3.25, the greatest 

 depth of the bill, forward of the nostril, being .48. In an example from Isal>ella Island, Western 

 Mexico, these measurements are 3.10 and .55, In a specimen from Yucatan, the depth of the Ijill 

 is scarcely .45, the culmen being the same length as in the preceding. 



On the Atlantic coast the American Oyster Catcher occur.? in more or less abun- 

 dance, from Massachusetts to Central America. Like the H. ostndagiis of Europe, 

 it probably wanders inland, especially up the inlets and estuaries of the Carolinas. 

 Wilson mentions having received a stuffed specimen shot from a flock that had been 

 first discovered on a beach irear the entrance of Boston Harbor, and in the summer 

 of 1837 a pair of these birds were procured at Marshtield by Daniel A^'ebster and 

 presented to the Boston Natural History Society. Tt was then no uncommon tiling 

 to see specimens of this bird on sale in the Boston market ; but this seldom or never 

 occurs now, and the bird for many years, so far as known, has been a stranger to 

 Massachusetts. iNIr. Boardman informs me that it is of occasional but rare occur- 

 rence in the vicinity of Calais, Me., and that a single specimen has been taken on 

 Grand ]Menau. 



An Oyster Catcher was observed by Mr. Salviii at the mouth of the Nagualete 

 Eiver, and he regarded it as being referable to this species ; he also mentions meeting 

 with it on the Pacific coast of Guatemala. Br. Cooper states that he obtained two 

 specimens of this bird — • one at San Diego, the other on Santa Barbara Island, in 



^ Fresh colors of several speciuieiis kilk'd in tlie breeding-season at Cobb's Island, coast of Viryini:!. 

 VOL. I. — 15 



