204 THE BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



Sub-family ARENARIIN^. 



Bill short and conical ; anterior toes with narrow lateral 

 membranes ; hind toe present. 



Turnstone. Are/mria iiiterpres (Linn.). 



If we include as one the Old and New World forms, which 

 are close allies, the Turnstone (Plate 82) is circumpolar in 

 summer and cosmopolitan in winter. It breeds as near to 

 Britain as Iceland and southern Scandinavia, but though 

 often suspected of nesting in our islands no nest has ever 

 been found ; it may be called a non-breeding resident, since 

 it is present at all seasons. It is a common passage migrant 

 and winter visitor, and many birds, even in breeding dress, 

 linger on our shores all summer. 



The Turnstone is a wader of the rocky shore, though on 

 sandy beaches it may be seen hunting along the tide-wrack. 

 In full summer dress it is a tabby, short-legged shore bird, 

 very black and white about the head and neck, with noticeable 

 orange legs and a short, slightly uptilted bill. In immature 

 and winter plumage it is more indefinite in its coloration, 

 suggesting irregular black, white, grey, and brown markings ; 

 it looks more variegated than other waders. When consorting 

 with other birds it may be recognised by its actions as well as 

 appearance. The pose is characteristic when a flock rests, often 

 accompanied by Purple Sandpipers, on some rock just out of 

 reach of the waves (Plate 88). Immigrants begin to appear 

 in July and August, but before the end of September the wave 

 of passage migration has spent its force, for many of our 

 visitors may be bound for the southern hemisphere. From 

 the latter half of April until June northward passage causes 

 increase on our shores. The bulk of the birds which remain to 

 winter, and also those about in summer, are immature. 



