Although it may be met with along almost any part of the coast, it is most partial to rocky places and spots where shingle banks are found amongst patches of mud. Its food consists of insects and crustacea of all kinds, and its name is derived from the habit of turning over stones for the sake of the insects that are thus exposed.
The nest is generally placed on the sea-shore close to high-water mark, little rocky islets just off the shore being very favourite localities. The eggs are four in number and very characteristic of this species, being greenish grey in ground colour, spirally streaked with brown. It is a late breeder, rarely having eggs before the beginning of June.
After the nesting season it at once moves southwards, young being met with on our shores by the middle of August. At this time of year it collects in small parties of from twenty to forty, and where not disturbed they are fairly tame and allow their curious method of feeding to be easily observed.
This bird is very variable in plumage when adult: the head and neck are variegated with black and white; mantle variegated with chestnut and black. Rump and under parts white. Tail brown; breast and shoulders chiefly black. The female resembles the male, but is slightly larger. Most of the chestnut colouring is lost in winter. The young have the upper parts brown, the feathers edged with white. Under parts white. Collar and a patch on each side of the breast dark brown. Length 9 in.; wing 6 in.
THE OYSTER-CATCHER
Hæmatopus ostralegus, Linnæus
No one who has been along the shore in winter can have failed to notice the large flocks of black-and-white birds—Sea Pies as they are often called—sitting on a sand-spit and, like Canute of old, defying the tide. There they sit, till, when the water is just about to touch their feathers, they all rise as though with one mind, and shrieking out their shrill call as they go, pass along to the next promontory which will afford them dry foothold for a few minutes longer. Such is the Oyster-Catcher and such his life, restless as the tide itself near which he lives. He is a common and abundant bird throughout the year on all our coasts, feeding more especially on mussels and limpets, which its powerful wedge-shaped bill enables it to detach from the rocks. Other food such as crustacea and marine insects are also eaten. Early in spring the large flocks begin to break up into pairs.
As a rule the nest is on the shingle or the top of a low rock just above high-water mark, but where the rocks are steep and precipitous it is placed on the top of the cliff, many feet above the sea-level. In Scotland they sometimes nest inland along the river banks. The nest is merely a slight depression round which a few snails’ shells or stones are laid, and it is to this habit rather than from its food that it owes the name of Oyster-Catcher. The eggs, two or three in number, are pale clay, freckled and spotted with black. Incubation is carried on by the hen, while her mate stands on some point of vantage from where, on the approach of a stranger, he gives vent to his loud and noisy “keep, keep, keep,” which is continued until the supposed danger is past. On the first note of alarm the hen leaves her nest and soon joins in the chorus with her mate.
The young when first hatched are dark greyish brown, mottled and striped with black; they are at once taken to the shore and are very carefully watched over by their parents, who, when the tide is out, take them a considerable distance below high-water mark. One brood only is reared in the season, and as soon as the young can fly they begin to gather again into flocks.
The head and neck, scapulars and mantle, lesser wing coverts and tip of the tail are black, the rest of the plumage white. Bill orange vermilion; legs pink. The sexes are alike, and in winter there is a white crescent round the top and front of the neck, and the bill is horn-coloured at the tip. The bill is continually growing and so counteracting the wear and tear to which it is subjected. Length 16 in.; wing 9·75 in.