COMMON OYSTEIICATCHER. 



495 



dusky brown : the irides are brown, and the feet 

 grey, and before the autumnal or second moult 

 the beak becomes spotted with black. 



It varies occasionally in having a white streak 

 beneath the eyes, and a transverse one on the 

 throat; it also occurs mottled with black and 

 white, and of a pure white, but this last is of rare 

 appearance. 



Oystercatchers abound on the coasts of Eng- 

 land, and are in the greatest profusion towards 

 the west : they feed on limpets and oysters, and 

 from their dexterity in procuring the latter their 

 name is derived : on observing one of them which 

 gapes wide enough to insert its beak, it thrusts it 

 in and thus takes out the inhabitant. It does not 

 construct any nest, but deposits its eggs on the 

 bare ground, above high-w^ater mark ; they are 

 generally four in number,* of an olivaceous brown, 

 blotched with black, and are arranged in the form 

 of a square, with the small ends inward, thus giving 

 the greatest security and warmth to each. The 

 young are hatched in about three weeks, and are 

 said to be capable of running as soon as they quit 

 the eggs, and are immediately led by the parents 

 to their proper food. During the period of incu- 

 bation the male is very watchful, and upon the 

 least alarm utters a loud scream and flies off, as 

 does also the female, after running some distance 

 from the place where the eggs are deposited. In 

 the winter they often associate in considerable 



* Temminck says two, and but rarely three. 



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