( 580 ) 



AMERICAN OYSTER-CATCHER. 



Hmmatopus palliatus, Temm. 



PLATE CCXXIII. Vol, III. p. 181. 



At Derniere Island, on the 15th of April 1837, we met with a flock 

 of Oyster-catchers, fourteen or fifteen in number, flying compactly, and 

 uttering their usual cry of weep, weep. Two were shot down into the 

 water, but one of them that had only been winged, dived so effectually 

 as to escape from us, in spite of the most strenuous exertions of the 

 sailors. At Galveston Island on the 26th of April, they were quite 

 away from the water, and running among the grass, so that they pro- 

 bably had either eggs or young. 



An individual obtained at Derniere Island, weighed 1 lb. 12 oz, ; 

 its alar extent 37 inches ; length to end of tail 19f , to end of claws 19. 



One of many specimens preserved in spirits, a female, presents 

 the following particulars. The roof of the mouth is flat, with a me- 

 dian groove towards the end ; the palate with two longitudinal ridges 

 covered with reversed papillae ; the posterior aperture of the nares li- 

 near, margined with papillae. The tongue is short, 9| twelfths long, 

 triangular, tapering to a blunt point, emarginate and papillate at the 

 base, flat above, thin and fleshy. The oesophagus, ab cde, is 81 inches 

 long, at the upper part 9 twelfths in width, but at the lower part of 

 the neck dilated into an elongated sac or crop, 1 inch 10 twelfths 

 ■mie ; on entering the thorax it contracts to 9 twelfths. The pro- 

 ventriculus, d e, is 1^ inch in breadth. The stomach, fg, is oblong, 

 13 inch long, 1 inch 2 twelfths in breadth ; its muscular coat thick, 

 and disposed into two lateral muscles of moderate strength ; the epi- 

 thelimn tough, dark red, with numerous longitudinal rugoe. The pro- 

 ventricular glands are cylindrical, 2 twelfths long, forming a conti- 

 nuous belt 1^ inch in breadth. The contents of the stomach are tes- 

 taceous mollusca, with a few fragments of shells and opercula. The 

 lobes of the liver are very unequal, the right 3^ inches long, the 

 left 2^. The intestine, ff hj h, 58 inches long. It forms the duodenal 

 curve in the usual manner, then runs backward nearly to the extre- 



