8ANDERLING.
the tlats i
,t unfrequt iet with,
Dungcneas and Rye Harbour, and, agait
Lancing and on towards Goring they are also not «
December and the two following months they may be
surf on the exposed banks at low water, their colouri:
breakers and drifted along the sands by the force of
Waders may be considered fit for table, the Sanderlin!
not possess the fish-taint that renders the Dunlin and oth
r actively
Dur stormy i
re the re
corresponding with the foam blown a
e cutting blasts of wind. If any ol
a my opinion, stands first on tho hat,
of tho family so unpalatable.
OYSTER-CATCH E It.
HMMATOPUS 0STRALE6VS.
Tnts conspicuous and attractive bird is oidy an occasional visitor to any of tho southern or eastern counties
of England with which I am acquainted: on the Fern Islands, off the coast of Northumberland, and
throughout the Highlands it is a resident, breeding along the sea-shore as well as by inland waters,
and remaining during the winter on the mudbanks of the saltwater firths or the rock-hound coasts in
the vicinity of its summer-haunts. On the extensive mussel-banks of several of the lirths in the Northern
Highlands these birds collect into immense flocks, thousands at times being observed in company. The
mudflats at the Little Ferry, near Golspie, in Sutherland, and the sands on each side of the harbourmouth
were most attractive feeding-grounds for fhis species; and here I have found them in far greater
numbers than on any other part of our coast-line. When unmolested they become exceedingly confiding:
having invariably refrained from causing them unnecessary alarm, I often passed within a few yards of
their ranks when working up the channel through the flats towards fowl or to procure specimens of any
species I required. If alarmed, their shrill cries at once arouse every flock within hearing, and all chance
of success is lost. Being of little use for culinary purposes, [ never attempted to discharge the big gun at
them, though, if so inclined, I might easily have bagged from one hundred and fifty fo two hundred at
The Oyster-Catcher chooses a variety of situations for breeding-purposes, making hut slight preparations
for the accommodation of its expected brood. At the Fern Islands it lays its eggs in a mere scratch in
the shingle or sand at a short distance above high-water mark. Along the course of several of the
Scotch rivers, such as the Spey or the Tay, it forms its humble cradle among the rough stones by the
water-side, and is not tin frequently deprived of its eggs or newly hatched brood by the floods fhat arc
caused by storms among the hills. In many parts of the Highlands they rear their young in a potatoe
or oat-field, the female silting plainly in view until the crops get up sufficiently to afford conceal meat.
While travelling by the Highland railway from Dunkcld towards Alierleldy or Blair Athol, I often
watched several birds sitting on their eggs in the fields near the line. The last time I passed through
this glen in spring Oyster-Catchers were by no means so numerous as in former days, though a few were
noticed near tho station at Ballhduig. I have also seen the eggs 1\ ing openly on the summit of some of tho
large detached blocks of rock that are found along the shore off the west coasts of Ross and Sulherland.
In Sussex and Kent I have heard this species spoken of by the local gunners as the Sea-l'ie or the
Olive; in my opinion 1 he Scotch name of Mussel-Pecker is far more appropriate than that of Oyster-Catcher.
The hard and powerful beak of this singular bird enables it to detach a limpet from the rock as well as to
crush a mussel with ease. The broken shells scattered about where a meal has been made bear evidence to
the strength of its beak ; the succulent morsel inclosed in the impenetrable shell of the oyster must, however,
he entirely beyond its reach.