240 THE AMERICAN OYSTER-CATCHER. 



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

 extent 37 inches; length to end of tail 19|-, to end of claws 19. 



H^matopus palliatds, Temm, Man. d'Orn., vol. ii. p. 532. 

 Mantled Oyster-catcher, Hcematopus palliatus, Nutt. Man., vol. ii. p. 15. 

 American Oyster-catcher, Hcematopus palliatus, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. iii. p. 181; 

 vol. v. p. 580. 



Male, 181, 32 1 ? bill 3f. Female, 21, 36. 



Breeds from Texas along the coast to New York, again from Maine to 

 Labrador. Returns south in autumn, spending the winter from Maryland 

 to West Florida. Rather common. 



Male in June. 



Bill long, slender but strong, straight, deeper than broad at the base, 

 towards the end extremely compressed, terminating in a very thin wedge- 

 shaped point. Upper mandible with the dorsal line at the base straight and 

 slightly sloping, convex beyond the nostrils, then straight and sloping to the 

 point, the ridge broad and flattened as far as the prominence, afterwards ex- 

 tremely narrow, the sides sloping at the base, perpendicular towards the end, 

 the edges rather sharp. Nasal groove basal, long; nostrils basal, in the mid- 

 dle of the groove, linear, direct, placed nearer the margin than the dorsal 

 line, pervious. Lower mandible straight, the dorsal line at the base sloping 

 upwards, at one-third of the length of the bill bulging, then straightish and 

 slightly ascending, the tip narrower than that of the upper mandible, the 

 sides at the base sloping upwards, and having a shallow groove, towards the 

 end becoming perpendicular. The bill differs from that of the Hsematopus 

 Ostralegns in being much deeper at the bulging part, much more attenuated 

 towards the point, and proportionally longer. 



Head of moderate size, oblong, the forehead rounded. Neck rather long. 

 Body stout, compact, deeper than broad. Wings long. Feet of moderate 

 length, rather stout; tibia bare for a fourth of its length, and, like the slightly 

 compressed tarsus, covered all round with hexagonal scales; toes rather short 

 and fleshy, the hind toe wanting, the second a little shorter than the fourth, 

 the third much longer, all scaly at the base above, scutellate towards the end, 

 flattened and broad beneath, with thick margins, which are covered with 

 prominent thick scales, and connected at the base by short webs, of which 

 the outer is longer; claws small, blunt, rather compressed, that of the middle 

 toe largest, and with a dilated thin inner edge. 



Plumage of the head and neck short, blended, of the back compact, and 

 slightly glossed, of the lower parts close and rather blended, the feathers in 

 general incurved, broad, and rounded. Wings long, acute; primaries rather 

 narrow and tapering, the first longest, the second slightly shorter, the rest 



