.\£STS AAV EGGS Of AfSrA'AliAX BLKDS. 775 



Sf^t. — A mere depression in tlie ground, liued witli a ftvv grass-bents. 

 Situated on a saudy or rocky soil in a bare place, 01 on a Hat covered with 

 heath and a few stunted bushes (Butler). 



tjijiju. — Clutch, four ; pynforiu m shape ; texture of shell iiue ; surface 

 glossy ; colour, greeuish-stonc, boldly daubed and smudged, especially 

 on the lai-ger end, with umber — some of the markings have the appear- 

 ance of having been wiped on obliquely with a brush ; other faint giey 

 markings also appear. Dimensions in inches; (1) 1'55 x 114, 

 (2) 1-55 X 1-12. 



Observationii. — The Tmiistone is a thorough " globe-trotter,' distri- 

 buting itself about the seashores of the world, of coiu^e including the 

 coast-line of Australia and Tasmania. My only sight of this lively, 

 restless nomad was on the mushroom-shaped limestone rocks known as 

 Houtmans Abrolhos, off Western Australia, where I observed small 

 flocks of sixes and sevens about the reefs at low water. They were 

 scarcely in adult plumage. The male ,and female, when fully grown, 

 are alike. Forehead, eyebrows, an oval spot before each eye, the centre 

 of the throat, ear-coverts, nape. of neck, lower part of back, abdomen, 

 and under tail coverts are white, the rest of the pliunage is either reddish- 

 brown or black, the black on the chest especially being strikmg. It has 

 a black bill about one inch in length, with eyes to match ; the legs and 

 feet are a rich orange. Altogether it is a smart, plump ci-eatiu'e, about 

 eight inches in total length. In youth the plmnage is more mottled, 

 but in all seasons and ages the Turnstone may be at once recognised by 

 its pure white throat. The chief food of the Turnstone is shell-fish 

 and insects and wonns, which it picks up amongst the stones (hence the 

 name Turnstone, I suppose) or seaweed. It breeds in June, on the 

 shoi'es of the Arctic Ocean in Europe, Asia, and America. 



In 1833 Mr. Hewitson, the celebrated oologist, and his companion, 

 Mr. Hancock, were the firet naturalists to bring the eggs of the Turnstone 

 to Bxitain. 



Of the forty-five or forty-six species of Charadriida- (the general 

 name for the family of the Plovers, the Sandpipers, and the Snipes — 

 some call them I^iniim/o', which, litei-ally, means dwellers in mud) 

 foimd in Australia, over a score, or half their number, retire annually 

 to the Ai'ctic regions to breed. Why do so many return towards the 

 Arctic regions with such surprising regularity? Mr. Seebohm states 

 that the Chdradriidte are unquestionably an Arctic family. They 

 probably originated on the shores of the polar basin, and it is not 

 improbable that their habits of migration were acquired in the Arctic 

 regions untold ages ago, when the conditions of life near the pole were 

 very different from now. The first migi-ation was probably in search of 

 light during the two or three months the sun failed to appear above the 

 horizon. The habit of migration thus formed became rooted in the 

 species, in accordance with the law of heredity (we usually call it instinct), 

 and doubtless gi-ew in force diuiug the glacial epoch, when intense cold 

 prevailed at the poles and in regions now temperate, compelling the 

 flocks to extend their migrations until the shores of the rest of the 

 world had been visited by them. 



