292 charadriidj:. 



where here and there grew tufts of grass, or stunted juniper 

 clinging to its surface, when our attention was attracted by 

 the singular cry of a Turnstone, which, in its eager watch, 

 had seen our approach, and perched itself upon an eminence 

 of the rock, assuring us, by its querulous, oft-repeated note, 

 and anxious motions, that its nest was there. We remained 

 in the boat a short time, until we had watched it behind a 

 tuft of grass, near which, after a minute search, we succeeded 

 in finding the nest in a situation in which I should never 

 have expected to meet with a bird of this sort breeding ; 

 it was placed against a ledge of the rock, and consisted of 

 nothing more than the dropping leaves of the juniper bush, 

 under a creeping branch of which the eggs, four in number, 

 were snugly concealed, and admirably sheltered from the 

 many storms by which these bleak and exposed rocks are 

 visited, allowing just sufficient room for the bird to cover 

 them. We afterwards found several more nests with little 

 difficulty. All the nests contained four eggs each. The 

 time of breeding is about the middle of June." The eggs 

 measure 1"6 by 1"1 in., of a greenish-grey colour, spotted and 

 streaked with ash-blue and two shades of brown. 



The Turnstone is well known to the ornithologists of the 

 United States ; and interesting accounts of its habits will 

 be found in the works of Wilson and Audubon : the latter 

 says, " My worthy friend. Dr. Bachraan, once had a bird of 

 this species alive. It had recovered from a slight wound in 

 the wing, when he presented it to a lady, who fed it on 

 boiled rice, and bread soaked in milk, of both of which it 

 was very fond. It continued in a state of captivity upwards 

 of a year, but was at last killed by accident. It had 

 become perfectly gentle, would eat from the hand of its kind 

 mistress, frequently bathed in a basin placed near it for the 

 purpose, and never attempted to escape, although left quite 

 at liberty to do so." 



The adult bird in summer has the beak black, with a 

 fleshy sheath at the base of the upper mandible ; the irides 

 dark brown ; the forehead l^lack, reaching to the eye on 

 each side ; below the eye a black patch, which, curving 



