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Webster 1913 Edition


oyster catcher

oystercatcher

,

oyster catcher

Noun.
(Zool.)
,
Any one of several species of wading birds of the genus
Haematopus
having stout legs and bill and mostly black-and-white plumage, which frequent seashores and feed upon oysters and other shellfish. The European species (
Haematopus ostralegus
), the common American species (
Haematopus palliatus
), and the California, or black, oyster catcher (
Haematopus Bachmani
) are the best known.

Syn. – oyster plover.