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ALLEN'S NATURALIST'S LIBRARY. 
continuous with the white on the inner web. The white band 
on the throat is lost during the first winter, disappearing 
sooner in the females than in the males. 
Nestling. — Clothed with down of a sandy-grey colour, not 
much mottled with black, of which two lines run down each 
side of the back, with a single narrow line down the rump to 
the tail, and a lateral stripe along the lower flanks ; the head 
has some irregular black stripes and patches ; throat dusky- 
black ; remainder of under surface of body white, as also the 
edge of the wing; thighs dusky-blackish. As the bird in- 
creases in size the plumage becomes darker, and is strongly 
barred with sandy-buff tips and edges to the feathers, but the 
black dorsal patches are retained in full force for a long 
time. 
Range in Great Britain. — The Oyster-catcher is resident with us 
throughout the year, and breeds on our northern coasts and in 
Scotland, where it ascends the rivers for some little distance 
and nests on the rocky beds. It also nests in certain parts of 
England as far south as the Scilly Islands. In Ireland Mr. 
R. J. Ussher says that it breeds on the coasts and islands of 
all the maritime counties, except, perhaps, Louth, Meath, Wick- 
low, and Waterford. Mr. H. C. Hart states that he has found 
it nesting on an island in Lough Erne. 
Range outside the British Islands. — The present species is found 
throughout most of the coasts of Europe from the North Cape 
to the Mediterranean, and as far east as the Valley of the Ob, 
but it ascends several large rivers of the Continent, as it docs 
the Petchora and the Ob, while it also breeds on the shores of 
inland seas, such as the Black Sea and the Caspian. It is also 
found nesting on the Adriatic and about the mouth of the 
Rhone, but is principally known as a winter resident in the 
countries of the Mediterranean, and it also extends in winter 
down the Red Sea, and is said to have been met with in 
Mozambique, on the east coast of Africa, and in Senegambia 
on the west. 
Habits. — The common names for the Oyster-catcher are “Sea 
Pie ” and “ Olive,” the latter being a favourite name with the 
gunners in Pagham Harbour years ago. Large flocks are 
often seen in the autumn and winter, generally distributed 
