240 
THE AMERICAN OYSTER-CATCHER. 
An individual obtained at Derniere Island, -weighed 1 lb. 12 oz. ; its alar 
extent 37 inches ; length to end of tail 19f, to end of claws 19. 
ILematopus palliatus, Temm. Man. d’Orn., vol. ii. p. 532. 
Mantled Oyster-catcher, Hcematopus 'palliatus , Nutt. Man., vol. ii. p. 15. 
American Oyster-catcher, Hcematopus palliatus, Aud. Orn. Biog., vol. iii. p. 181 
vol. v. p. 580. 
Male 18i , 321, bill 3f. Female, 21, 36. 
Breeds from Texas along the coast to New York, again from Maine tc 
Labrador. Returns south in autumn, spending the winter from Maryland 
to West Florida. Rather common. 
Male in June. 
Bill long, slender but strong, straight, deeper than broad at the base, 
towards the end extremely compressed, terminating in a very thin wedge- 
shaped point. Upper mandible with the dorsal line at the base straight and 
slightly sloping, convex beyond the nostrils, then straight and sloping to the 
point, the ridge broad and flattened as far as the prominence, afterwards ex- 
tremely narrow, the sides sloping at the base, perpendicular towards the end, 
the edges rather sharp. Nasal groove basal, long ; nostrils basal, in the mid- 
dle of the groove, linear, direct, placed nearer the margin than the dorsal 
line, pervious. Lower mandible straight, the dorsal line at the base sloping 
upwards, at one-third of the length of the bill bulging, then straightish and 
slightly ascending, the tip narrower than that of the upper mandible, the 
sides at the base sloping upwards, and having a shallow groove, towards the 
end becoming perpendicular. The bill differs from that of the Hcematopus 
Ostralegus in being much deeper at the bulging part, much more attenuated 
towards the point, and proportionally longer. 
Head of moderate size, oblong, the forehead rounded. Neck rather long. 
Body stout, compact, deeper than broad. Wings long. Feet of moderate 
length, rather stout ; tibia bare for a fourth of its length, and, like the slightly 
compressed tarsus, covered all round with hexagonal scales; toes rather short 
and fleshy, the hind toe wanting, the second a little shorter than the fourth, 
the third much longer, all scaly at the base above, scutellate towards the end, 
flattened and broad beneath, with thick margins, which are covered with 
prominent thick scales, and connected at the base by short webs, of which 
the outer is longer ; claws small, blunt, rather compressed, that of the mid- 
dle toe largest, and with a dilated thin inner edge. 
Plumage of the head and neck short, blended, of the back compact, and 
slightly glossed, of the lower parts close and rather blended, the feathers in 
general incurved, broad, and rounded. Wings long, acute ; primaries rather 
narrow and tapering, the first longest, the second slightly shorter, the rest 
