55S 



TURNSTONE. 



along the northern coast of Siberia as far as Bering Strait. During 

 the cold season it ranges over Asia, and down to Australia" 

 Tasmania, New Zealand, Polynesia, South America and the African 

 region. There lias been some reason for believing that the Turn- 

 stone might breed in the Canaries and Azores, while Mr. Tait says 

 that in Portugal it is usually seen near the mouth of the Douro 

 " from the beginning of April till the middle of September," adding 

 that in the summer of 1869 a young bird was brought to him alive 

 and kept in a cage for many months. No eggs have, however, been 

 taken south of the Baltic. On migration the Turnstone is found 

 along the entire coast line of Europe and on many inland waters, 

 and it is generally distributed in North America, breeding in the 

 Arctic regions. 



The nest, close to high-water mark, is often a shallow depression 

 lined with a few dry leaves and bents, under the shelter of bushes or 

 scanty herbage on the coasts of the Northern seas or upon ledges of 

 rock on their islets ; but in Iceland, Kolguev and Novaya Zemlya 

 the Rev. H. H. Slater found that fells at some distance from 

 the sea were preferred. The eggs, 4 in number, are very distinct 

 from those of any other species, being of a greenish-grey colour, 

 spotted and streaked somewhat spirally with bluish-ash and brown : 

 measurements i-6 by n in. Incubation, shared by both sexes, 

 takes place about the middle of June, only one brood being reared 

 in the season. The Turnstone feeds chiefly on small crustaceans 

 and molluscs, in search of which it may be seen— sometimes in 

 parties— turning over stones or examining sea-weed, whence its 

 Norfolk name of " Tangle-picker." It is easily tamed, and Mr. Tait 

 has given an interesting account of the manner in which his captive 

 bird called down a Whimbrel with which it afterwards lived (Ibis, 

 1887, p. 387). The note is a clear whistle, but a loud twittering is 

 often uttered by the bird when on the wing. 



In spring, as shown in the illustration, the adult male has the 

 head, neck, upper breast and shoulders variegated with black and 

 white ; mantle streaked with chestnut and black ; rump conspicuously 

 white, followed by a dark brown patch on the coverts, most of the 

 tail-feathers being of the same colour ; under parts white ; legs and 

 feet orange-red, hind-toe turning inwards and not backwards. 

 Length 9 in. ; wing 6 in. The female is a trifle larger, but slightly 

 duller in colour, and in autumn the chestnut tint is much reduced 

 in both sexes. The young bird has the forehead and cheeks brown, 

 collar dark umber, merely a huffish tint to the margins of the wing- 

 coverts and secondaries, feathers of the back tipped with dull white. 



