h^matopus ostkalegtjs. 



(THE OYSTERCATCHER.) 



Hcematopus ostralegus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. p. 257 (1776); Gould, B. of Eur. pi. 300 (1837); 

 Jerdon, Madr. Journ. 1840, xii. p. 201 ; Blyth, Cat. B. Mus. A. S. B. p. 264 (1849) ; 

 Layard, Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. 1854, xiv. p. 110; Schrenck, Reis. u. Forsch. Amur- 

 L. p. 413 (1860); Schlegel, Mus. P.-B. Anseres, p. 70 (1864); Jerdon, B. of Tnd. iii. 

 p. 659 (1864) ; Holdsw. P. Z. S. 1872, p. 472 ; Von Heuglin, Orn. N.Ost-Afr. ii. 

 p. 1039 (1873) ; Hume, Str. Feath. 1873, p. 234, et 1879, viii. (List B. of Ind.), 

 p. 112 ; Irby, B. of Gibraltar, p. 163 (1875) ; Legge, Str. Feath. 1876, p. 234 ; Seebohm 

 & Harvie Brown, Ibis, 1875, p. 290; Dresser, B. of Eur. pis. 63, 64 (1877) ; Butler, 

 Str. Feath. 1877, p. 212. 



Hcematopus hypoleuca, Pallas, Zoogr. Rosso-As. ii. p. 129 (1811). 



% Hcematopus oseulans, Swinhoe, P. Z. S. 1871, p. 405 ; id. Ibis, 1875, p. 129; David & 

 Oustalet, Ois. de la Chine, p. 432 (1877); Blakiston & Pryer, Ibis, 1878, p. 219. 



LHuitrier, Buffon ; Sea-Pie, popularly in England ; Scholekster, Dutch ; Ostraceiro, Portu- 

 guese ; Austernfisclier, German. Darya gajpaou, lit. " Sea Longshanks," Hind. ; Yerri 

 kali ulatika, Telugu; Tetawuk, Kabul (Blyth). 



Female, full-grown (Ceylon, March). Length 17'0 inches ; wing 10-0 ; tail 4-0 ; tarsus 2-13 ; bare tibia 0-8 ; middle 

 toe and claw 1*7 ; bill to gape 3'25, at front 3 - 2. 



Adult female ("Wales, November). Length 16-3 inches ; wing 9-6, expanse 31*0 ; tail 4-0 ; tarsus 1*9 ; middle toe and 

 claw 1-6 ; bill to gape 3 - 0, at front 2-85 : weight 15| oz. A series of English and European examples measure: — 

 wing 9-4 to 10-3 ; tail 3-9 to 4-0 ; tarsus 1-8 to 2-15 ; middle toe and claw 1-6 to 1-7 ; bill at front 2-45 to 3-1. 



Adult male (Kurrachee). Length 15-5 inches ; wing 10-0 ; tail 4-4 ; tarsus 2-1 ; bill at front 3-1. Weight 1 lb. 6 oz. 

 (Hume.) 



Female (Cheefoo : H. oseulans). Length 19-5 inches ; wing 10-6 ; tail 4-65 ; tarsus 2-2 ; bill at front 4-0 (Swinhoe). 

 — Male. (Shanghai: H. oseulans). Length 18-5 inches (0-47 in.); tail 4-3 (Oil m.); tarsus 2-17 ("0-055 m.) ; bill at 

 front 3-95 (0-10 m.) (David). 



Obs. The bill of the Oystercatcher varies greatly in length, depending on the degree in which the tip is worn off : 

 many examples shot on rocky coasts have the extremities quite truncated, measuring perhaps Jj inch in width, 

 the appearance of the outer surfaces of the mandibles showing that this is the result of friction ; the Chinese 

 form, H. oseulans, which I doubtfully include with ours, appears to have normally a considerably larger bill, as 

 will be seen by the above measurements ; Mr. Hume gives the extreme length hi Indian specimens as 3 - 6 inches. 

 Asiatic specimens appear to average larger in the tarsus than European. 



Iris variable, orange-red, red, brownish red ; eyelid orauge-red ; bill orange-red at the base, the terminal half of the 

 upper mandible changing to blackish, and the tip of the lower mandible to brownish ; legs and feet dusky purplish 

 (in spring purplish pink) ; feet duskier than the tarsus. 



Head, entire neck, and upper back uniform coal-black, with a small white patch beneath the eyelid; scapulars, tertials, 

 wing-coverts, primaries, and the terminal portion of the secondaries and terminal portion of the tail brownish 

 black, not so intense as that of the head and throat ; greater wing-coverts, except at the base, the inner secon- 

 daries entirely, and the rest, with the exception of the above-mentioned portion, white ; the greater part of the 

 inner webs of the primaries, from the base outwards, white, running onto the centre of the outer webs of all but 

 the first two primaries, and ending on the third in an elongated shaft-patch ; first two primary-shafts white near 

 the tip, the remainder white where the webs are this colour ; entire under surface, with the under tail-coverts 

 and under wing, as also the back, rump, upper tail-coverts, and basal two thirds of the tail, white. 



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