358 OYSTER-CATCHER. 



in England by the name of Sea Pie, or Olive. I have observed 

 that the Oyster-catcher, when in confinement, has now and then a 

 kind of whistle ; but, in a letter from the Rev. J. Roberts, of Saint 

 Davids, he says — " Their note is shrill and piercing, like a sweet- 

 toned pipe." 



This bird seems to be a general inhabitant, found in most parts 

 of the Old Continent, and universally in the neighbourhood of the 

 sea ; inhabits also the various parts of America, from New York to 

 the Bahama Islands,* as well as Cayenne and Surinam.! Scheuchzer 

 mentions it as being in Japan. $ 



2— BLACK OYSTER-CATCHER. 



Haematopus corpore toto nigro, Forst. Voy. i. 453. Park. Voy. 48S. Hawksw. Voy. 



ii. 333. Cook's Last Voyage, i. 151. Id. ii. 378. 

 Haematopus niger, Tern. Man. Ed. ii. 533. 



THIS is larger than the European Species. Bill, irides, and 

 eyelids, red ; plumage in general full black ; legs red. 



Inhabits New-Holland, § Van Diemen's Land, Terra del Fuego, f| 

 New Zealand,** and the Island of Curacoa. ft 



3.— BROWN-BACKED OYSTER-CATCHER. 



LENGTH nineteen inches to the end of the tail, and to that 

 of the toes twenty-one ; breadth thirty-one. Bill more than three 

 inches ; in shape and colour like the others, but more stout ; head 

 and neck dull black ; back and wings pale brown ; on the latter a 

 patch of white ; prime quills black ; secondaries brown, some of 



* Arct. Zool. Cates. Car. i. 85. Park. Voy. 144. f Descrip. Surin. ii. 167. 



% Hist. Jap. i. 130. § Damp. Voy. iii. pi. in p. 123.— Cook's Last Voy. i. 110. 



|| Forst. Voy. i. 453.— Park. Voy. 488. ** Hawksw. Voy. ii. 333. 

 ft Feuille Obs. 1725. p. 289. 



