60 
PLUVIALINJE. OSTRALEGUS. 
that part. The young are at first covered with down, of a | 
greyish-white mottled with brown. When fledged, they have ! 
the bill pointed, the dark parts chocolate brown, the feathers 
slightly margined with yellowish-red ; the breast, belly, great- 
er part of the back, half of the tail and its coverts, white. 
Male, 17, 35, 10J, 3£, 2, T V. Female 18, 36. 
The Oyster-catcher occurs on all our coasts, on many parts i 
of which it is abundant. After the breeding season it forms 
flocks, which are frequently very numerous. At this period j 
they are met with chiefly on low rocky shores, or at the I 
mouths of rivers. Their food consists chiefly of patellae, ba- j , 
lani, small bivalve shells, young crabs, and other marine | 
animals. They often repose on extensive sands, as well as ; 
rocky headlands. Occasionally they wade in the water, but 
in general seek their food in exposed parts. They run with ! 
great celerity, have a strong and rapid flight, and emit a very 
loud shrill cry, which on certain occasions is modulated into 
several notes. In April the flocks break up, and the indivi- ! 
duals disperse in pairs, some ascending the rivers, but by far 
the greater number breeding on the shores of the sea, in un- 
frequented places. The nest is a hollow made among the 
gravel or pebbles ; sometimes however in rocky places some 
fragments of plants are placed in it. The eggs, generally , 
three, sometimes four, are oval, two inches long, an inch and 
seven-twelfths in breadth, pale greyish-yellow, marked all 
over with dots, spots, and blotches of blackish-brown and 
umber, with some irregular linear markings of the same. | 
The young soon leave the nest, but skulk among the rocks 
or herbage nearly until able to fly. The old birds evince 
much anxiety for their eggs and young, fly about the intruder, 
but, at a distance, feign lameness, and are extremely voci- 
ferous. J 1 
Sea Pie or Piet. Pianet. Choldrick. 
Hsematopus Ostralegus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 257. — Hsoma- i 
topus Ostralegus, Lath. Ind. Ornith. ii. 752.- — Iisematopus 
Ostralegus, Temm. Man. d’Ornith. ii. 531. — Ostralegus Hse- 
matopus, Pied Oyster-catcher, MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, iv. 
We have now passed in review all the British Runners, 
and have seen that, in searching for food, they are guided 
entirely by sight, their eyes being large, in some remark- 
ably so, they being in a great measure nocturnal. Some 
