EAST AUSTRALIAN BLACK OYSTERCATCHER. 
Mr. Frank Littler* says : “ This species is generally to be seen in company 
with the preceding one [^H. o. longiTostris\ but there are some islets in Bass 
Strait where the Black oyster-catcher is the only species seen. In its economy 
it is a counterpart of the Pied species. During the breeding season it moves 
in pairs, at other times in small bands. Very rarely does one see it further 
inland than the extreme edge of the rocks, where it wiU allow itself to be 
splashed time and again by the rollers without moving out of the reach of 
the water. Even when flying from one part to another of the rocky shore 
of its haunts, it prefers flying over the water to taking a short cut inshore. 
Its sharp cry is usually uttered when on the wing but sometimes when at 
rest, especially should danger threaten. When with eggs or young, many 
strange antics are performed in an endeavour to entice intruders away. In 
general disposition the bird is very shy.” 
The same author sends me the following note : “It will not only feign 
lameness, but will faU and roll on its back as though in great agony, in order 
to attract attention, while its young hide under projecting ledges, etc. 
Its alarm note is a loud piping, shrill cry. Its food consists of molluscs, 
crustaceans, and other marine life.” 
Mr. Edwin Ashby says he found this bird fairly numerous at Venus Bay 
in February, 1910. He also fouud it nesting in a rocky islet ofl St. George’s 
River on the north coast of Kangaroo Island in October, 1905. 
Mr. J. W. Mellor writes : “ Their dark bodies and red bills and legs 
stand out conspicuously as they perch upon some rock or stand on the beach. 
I saw a number of them at Stansbury, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia, in 
April, 1911. They were in twos and threes along the sandy shore, seeking 
marine food and uttering their plaintive whistle. They can see the approach 
of a person at a great distance and the whistle is a note of warning to other 
birds in the same locality, as immediately this signal is given the othbr birds 
prick up their heads and start on the move instinctively.” 
A. G. Campbell, writing on the birds of King Island states f : “ This larger 
species is not so common, and lives mostly among the rocky parts of the 
coast. At one place, an old resident affirms, a pair of these birds has lived 
and reared young each season for twenty-five years at least.” 
The determination of the specific name to be used for the Australian Black 
Oystercatchers has not been easy. Although noted from New Zealand by 
the early voyageurs, it was apparently thought to be a melanistic form, and 
no name was given until Temminck in 1820 {Manuel d'Orn., Vol. II., p. 533) 
described Hmnatopus niger as of Cuvier : “ Tout le plumage, sans exception, 
*Handb. Birds Tasm., p. 124, 1910. 
t Enw, Vol. II., p. 208, 1903. 
VOL. III. 
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