49° The Water-fowl Family 



EUROPEAN OYSTER-CATCHER 

 (Hamatopus ostralegus) , 



Male and female in breeding plumage — Head, neck, and upper 

 parts, glossy black; greater wing-coverts, pure white; pri- 

 maries, black with most of inner webs white, the white extend- 

 ing to outer web on inner primaries ; secondaries, white with 

 black tips; rump, upper tail-coverts, and basal half of tail, 

 white; rest of tail, black; spot below eye and lower parts 

 from breast, white; feathers at junction of fore neck and 

 breast, black and white ; bill, vermilion ; feet, purplish red ; 

 iris, crimson; eyelids, vermilion. 



Winter plumage — The same. 



Young — Browner on back than adult; feathers vermiculated and 

 edged with sandy brown ; primaries with more white, and a 

 band of white on throat. 



Downy young — Upper parts, sandy gray, mottled with black on the 

 head, and striped with black on back, rump, and flanks ; throat 

 and thighs, blackish ; rest of lower parts and edge of wing, 

 white. 



Measurements — Length, 16.50 inches; wing, 10 inches; tail, 4 

 inches ; culmen, 3.25 inches ; tarsus, 2 inches. 



Eggs — Three or four ; oval ; buff spotted with dark brown and gray ; 

 measure 2.35 by 1.50 inches. 



Habitat — Breeds in Iceland and the coast of western and southern 

 Europe, and in eastern Europe and western Asia, from the 

 Black Sea, the Caucasus, and Turkestan, north to the Arctic 

 circle, on the banks of large rivers and lakes. Winters in 

 Iceland, Great Britain, and the coasts of central Europe, south 

 to both coasts of central Africa, and from the Caucasus to 

 western India. Several have been taken in Greenland. 



The European oyster-catcher apparently much 

 excels our bird in its ability to adapt itself to 

 circumstances and find a home wherever it may 

 wander. Sometimes it lays its eggs on the bare 

 rocks of a rugged shore, or in a slight hollow of 



