. Nests and eggs of birds found breeding in Australia and Tasmania . with in small flocks, or in pairs, feeding at low tide on the unfrequentedportions of our sea-beaches, especi-ally those contiguous to bluffheadlands and rocky are shy and wary, can swimwell, and when wounded will evenresort to diving as a means of know of no species in which thenatural colour of the legs and feetof skins is retained so long as thoseof the White-breasted Oyster-Catcher. There are specimens ofboth this species and its congener(Hinnalopus nnicolor) in the Austra-lian iMuseum Collectio
. Nests and eggs of birds found breeding in Australia and Tasmania . with in small flocks, or in pairs, feeding at low tide on the unfrequentedportions of our sea-beaches, especi-ally those contiguous to bluffheadlands and rocky are shy and wary, can swimwell, and when wounded will evenresort to diving as a means of know of no species in which thenatural colour of the legs and feetof skins is retained so long as thoseof the White-breasted Oyster-Catcher. There are specimens ofboth this species and its congener(Hinnalopus nnicolor) in the Austra-lian iMuseum Collection, procuredby the late Mr. George Masters at Port Lincoln, South Australia, in October, 1867, that are almost as bright now as when they were collected. The late Mr. J. .\. Thorpe also obtained a fine series of //. longirostris, together with their eggs, at Fraser Island, Wide Bay, Oueensland. The food of the White-breasted Oyster-Catcher is usually obtained at low tide, among theseaweed-covered rocks, and on the sandy beaches, and consists of prawns, sand-worms,. WHITE-BREASTED OYSTER CATCHER. 2G1 molluscs aiul other marine animals, and occasionally small lish. At Port Stephens, New SouthWales, in October, 1897, Mr. R. Etheridge, the Curator, was attracted by a number of these birdsfeeding near low water mark, and on making an examination found they were eating themolluscs of• cockle shells, Do«(;,v (f(VA)/W(s, Lamarck, ninety-five per cent, of the shells beingbroken in the same place, the anterior portion of the left valve. Some of these rifled shells hebrought back with him, and they are at present in the collection. Dr. \V. Macgillivray sent me the following note from Broken Hill, South-western NewSouth —On the northern islands of the Barrier Reef, lying off the Queensland coast,I found Iluiiiatopiis loui^uostyis commoner than its congener, //. uuicolov. It was always verywary, tlying off and uttering its alarm note in such a way as to send all oth
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Keywords: ., bookauthornorthalf, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookyear1901
