II M MAT OPUS -LONGIROSTRIS,, v im .
White-breasted Oyster-catcher.
Hamatopus longirostris, Nat., tom. Ik. p. -If Os—lb. Ency. M6th., Part I.
-------------picatus, Vig. Ap^g.-‘to;-King’s Voy. to Australia, 'fc
------------- dustralasianus, ^baL^M^foGT dM^^aoc^rPart V. p. 155.
T hjs# spepies is so generally dispersed over the southern coast of Australia, that to particularize localities
M ^ i t |m > y - ;h ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ M I d l^ ^ ^eMu6us. !bu^ l f e ^ state that MMsmore abundant in Van Diemen’s Land
and the islands in Bass’s Straits than elsewhere. As is the case with the European species, low muddy flats
under the influence of thes@e^s|n4y bays on. the sea-shore, estuaries, the mouths of rivers arid marshes,
pypggte Natural placesf o f resort. During the greater-part of the year it may be observed in small companies
o f together - with the Hasmatopus fuliginosus and other shore birds,
Such as Curlews,. Whimbrels5 Stints, Sandpipers, &c., that seek their food on beaches and sand-banks,
whereon each receding tide leav^esWumlrous/nibllu^h^^^^Acr"marin e animals, which afford a plentiful
; repast to myriads of birds .of | f l order of wliich the present species forms a part. In its appearance it is
very handsome and attractive, the white feathers of the wings and breast shbwing very conspicuously as it
nimbly trips over the sands. During the breeding-season, which lasts from September to January, it leaves
the shores and resorts to^s^alllMu^^and^cochy promontories fiorthe,purp6s||?Qf rearing its young. The
eggs, ’tvhich are two or t^rbb in number, are usually deposited on the bare grqund near the water’s edge ;
they are of a bufly stone-colour, marked all over with large irregular blotches o f dark chestnut-brown, approaching
to black; two inches and_a m^l^dpn^b^h^^iiich five-eighths broad,. The young are soon
capable of running, and in Gase of danger secrete themselves behind a stone or in a crevice of the rocks,
while the adults keep flying backwards and forwards, uttering their loud and clamorous cries with the view
of decoying away the intruder,-^a stratagem often resorted! to by other birds. *
The sexes present no external difference whatever. . The young, from the time they are half-grown to
maturity, have the same kind of plumage, but dijfi?r from the adulig|in having each black feather o f the
back and Jiyings strongly edged with brown, forming circular marks and bars on nearly the whole o f the
upper surf|g|}\:
Head, neck, breast* bpchi. yjgug&j ^nd tail-feathers for three parts o f their length from the tip, deep
greenish black | the tips of the wing-coverts, abdomen, rump, upper and under tail-coverts, and the bases o f
the tail-feathers pure white ; irides crimson; bill and eyelash deep orange-scarlet 5 feet light brick-red.
The Plate represents the two sexes o f the. natura|^i?U* ^