6o PLOVER GROUP 



In its full summer- dress the cock lurnstone, which measures 

 9^ inches in length, may be recognised at a glance by the pied black 

 and white of the head, neck, and upper part of the breast, the mingled 

 black, bright chestnut, and white of the back and wing-coverts, the 

 white of the lower portion of the back and under-parts, the black 

 upper tail-coverts and beak, the white-shafted black quills, and the 

 brilliant orange legs. At the same season the hen is a trifle duller 

 in colour, and shows less chestnut ; but in winter both sexes have 

 the upper- parts nearly uniform dusk}' brown, without any chestnut 

 mottlings, and likewise lack the white markings on the head and 

 neck. Immature birds in first plumage resemble the adults in winter- 

 dress, with the exception that the feathers of the upper-parts display 

 buff markings. The chick is dark grey, spotted with black above, 

 and with various markings on the head ; the under-parts varying from 

 greyish to white. 



Except during migration, the turnstone is only to be met with on 

 the seashore, where it may often be seen without difficulty engaged 

 in its characteristic occupation of ascertaining what is to be found 

 beneath stones and shells ; its food consisting of the shrimps, sand- 

 hoppers, molluscs, and such-like creatures as seek security in situations of 

 this nature. For operations of this description the swollen beak of the 

 plovers would manifestly be unsuited ; and the solid conical beak of the 

 turnstone may accordingly be regarded as an adaptive modification, which 

 by no means affects its intimate relationship to that group. So great 

 is the power of the neck that one of these birds has been known to turn 

 a slab of stone several inches square ; while their ingenuity is such that, 

 when unable to turn over a large fish, they have undermined it in order 

 to get at the concealed supply of food. Conspicuous as is the plumage 

 of these birds when mounted in a museum, on a mottled shingle like 

 that of the Chesil Beach, in Dorsetshire, turnstones are almost impossible 

 to detect when crouching down among the pebbles ; and it is not till 

 they rise with their shrill whistling cry that their presence is revealed 

 to the casual observer. Most of the turnstones which visit Great Britain 

 do so on migration, the northern flight taking place in May, while the 

 return journey may occur at any time from the end of July to the end 

 of September. A certain number of these birds remain, however, for 

 the winter on the south coast. Moreover, from the fact of pairs being 

 occasionally met with in various parts of the country in summer, there 

 is good reason to believe that they may sometimes breed with us. The 

 best evidence for such breeding occurs in the case of the Fame Islands, 

 off the Northumberland coast, where they are stated to have once nested 



