182 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



d 1 . Back, scapulars, and wing-coverts (except greater) grayish brown, 

 or brownish slate ; upper tail-coverts entirely white in adult ; 

 under primary coverts almost wholly white. Adult: Head 

 and neck plumbeous-black ; bill bright red (in life). Young : 

 Head and neck dull blackish, the top of the former speckled 

 with pale brown ; feathers of upper parts bordered with dull 

 buff; bill brownish. Downy young : Head and neck dull light 

 grayish, finely mottled with darker, and with a narrow line of 

 black behind eye ; rest of upper parts light fulvous-gray, finely 

 mottled with darker, and relieved by two narrow stripes of 

 black along the back ; lower parts white. Length 17.00-21.00, 

 wing 9.80-10.25, culmen 2.85-3.50, greatest depth of bill for- 

 ward of nostril .48-.55, tarsus 2.05-2.55, middle toe (without 

 claw) 1.20-1.55. Eggs 2-3, 2.21 X 1.58, light dull creamy buff, 

 spotted with black, dark brown, and purplish gray. Hab. 

 Coasts of America, from Nova Scotia and southern California 

 to southern Brazil and Chili. 



286. H. palliatus Temm. American Oyster-catcher. 

 d 2 . Back, scapulars, and wing-coverts sooty black; shorter upper 

 tail-coverts entirely black, the longer ones varied with black at 

 ends ; under primary coverts chiefly black ; wing 10.00, culmen 

 3.12-3.42, greatest depth of bill forward of nostril .50, tarsus 

 2.12-2.20, middle toe, without claw, 1.65. Hab. Galapagos 

 Islands. 



H. galapagensis Kidgw. Galapagos Oyster-catcher. 1 



c*. Breast uniform black ; bill very slender, its greatest depth forward of 



nostril not exceeding .40 of an inch ; middle toe, with claw, much 



less than 1.75. 



Adult : Back, scapulars, and wing.coverts (except greater) sooty 



black, with faint greenish gloss; upper tail-coverts (except 



shorter median ones), entirely white; nearly all the under 



wing-coverts uniform black; wing 10.00-10.60, culmen 3.00- 



3.05, greatest depth of bill forward of nostril .38-.40, tarsus 



1.75-1.95, middle toe 1.20-1.30. Hab. Tierra del Fuego. 



H. leucopodus Gaknot. White-footed Oyster-catcher. 2 

 a 2 . Plumage entirely blackish. 



Adult : Uniform brownish black, or dark sooty brown, the head and neck 

 plumbeous-black. Young : General color more brownish, many of the 

 feathers (especially wing-coverts and scapulars) having paler (dull buff 

 or rusty) tips. 

 b\ Length 17.00-17.50, wing 9.60-10.75, culmen 2.50-2.95, greatest depth of bill 

 forward of nostril .45-.52, tarsus 1.85-2.25, middle toe 1.30-1.65. Eggs 

 2.18 X 1-52, light olive-buff or buffy olive, speckled or sparsely spotted 



1 Hesmatopus galapagensis Ridhw., Auk, iii. July, 1886, 331. 



2 Heematopua leueopodut Gabnot, Ann. doa So. Nat. vii., 1826, 47. 



