4§7 
0 YSTER- CA TCHERS. 
the stilts is formed in one way by the Peruvian avocet (R. andina), in which the 
plumage of the upper-parts is black; and in another by the banded avocet (R. 
pectoralis), in which, while the plumage is pied, the beak is straight, and the first 
toe wanting. The avocets include five species, having much the same distribution 
as the stilts, with the exception that none breed in India or the adjacent countries. 
The common avocet, which was formerly a frequent visitor to the fenny districts 
of England, is characterised in the adult dress by the black upper surface of the 
head and hinder part of the neck, and the white innermost secondaries; the young 
birds in their first plumage have the dark parts of the plumage brown, and the 
secondaries barred with white. The total length of the bird is 18 inches. Owing 
to drainage, the European breeding-places of the avocet are now restricted to 
certain islands off Denmark and Holland, the marshes of Southern Spain, the delta 
of the Rhone, and the lagoons of the Black Sea; but to the eastwards it nests in 
Palestine, Persia, Turkestan, the south-west of Siberia, etc., and also in Africa. In 
winter these birds resort to India, China, and, more rarely, Japan; and they reach 
their European breeding-places in April and May, and depart in September. The 
North American avocet ( R. americana), ranging from the Great Slave Lake to 
Texas, differs at all seasons by its white secondaries, and in the breeding-plumage 
by the pale chestnut hue of the head and neck. The habits of the avocets are so 
similar to those of stilts, that one account will serve for both ; and we may accord¬ 
ingly close our notice with the following description of the appearance of a colony 
of these birds on the Arkansas, observed by Dr. Coues. “ The avocets,” he writes, 
“ walked leisurely about, up to the belly in water, with graceful, deliberate steps, 
each of which was accompanied by a swaying of the head and neck. When 
approached too closely, they rose lightly from the water, uttering their peculiar 
cries, flapped leisurely to a little distance, and again alighted to pursue their 
peaceful search for food, forgetting, or at least not heeding, their recent alarm. As 
they rose from the water, their singular long legs were allowed to dangle for a few 
moments, but were afterwards stretched stiffly backwards, as a counterpoise to their 
long necks ; and, thus balanced, their light bodies were supported with the greatest 
ease by their ample wings. When about to re-alight, they sailed without flapping 
for a little distance, just clearing the water, their legs again hanging loosely; as 
they touched the ground, their long wings were held almost upright for an instant, 
then deliberately folded, and settled in place with a few slight motions.” 
Much more stoutly built, and with shorter and thicker neck and 
legs than the stilts, the oyster-catchers, or sea-pies, may be diagnosed 
by the metatarsus being inferior in length to the nearly straight and rather thick 
beak. The long and pointed wings extend, w T hen closed, to about the extremity of 
the squared tail; the beak is somewdiat compressed and truncate at the tip, w r ith 
considerable specific variation in outline; but a small portion of the tibia is bare; 
the reticulated metatarsus is short and stout; and the first toe is wanting. The 
common oyster-catcher ( Hcematopus ostralegus ), which is a resident in the British 
Isles, is the typical representative of the genus, and while four other species 
resemble it in their pied plumage, the remaining two are black. The distribution 
of the genus is almost world-wide. Agreeing with all the other Old World forms 
in its dull crimson-red legs, the European species is specially characterised by the 
Oyster-Catchers. 
