TURNSTONE 997 



habit of turnina; over with its bill such stones as it can to seek its 



food in the small crustaceans or other animals 



lurking beneath them. It is the Tringa 



interpres^ of Linnaeus and Strepsilas interpres 



of most later writers, and is remarkable as 



being perhaps the most cosmopolitan of 



birds; for, though properly belonging to ^ ,,.. c, """ s 



'' i-ii -1 Turnstone. (After Swamson.) 



the noi'thern hemisphere, there is scarcely 



a sea-coast in the world on which it may not occur : it has been 

 obtained from Spitsbergen to the Strait of Magellan and from 

 Point Barrow to the Cape of Good Hope and New Zealand — • 

 examples from the southern hemisphere being, however, almost 

 invariably in a state of plumage that shews, if not immaturity, 

 yet an ineptitude for reproduction. It also, though much less 

 commonly, resorts to the margins of inland rivers and lakes ; but 

 it is very rarely seen excejDt in the neighbourhood of Avater, and 

 salt water for preference. 



The Turnstone is about as big as an ordinary Snipe ; but, 

 compared with most of its allies of the group LiMicOL^, to which it 

 belongs, its form is somewhat heavy, and its legs are short. Still 

 it is brisk in its movements, and its variegated plumage makes it a 

 pleasing bird. Seen in front, its white face, striped with black, 

 and broad black gorget attract attention as it sits, often motionless, 

 on the rocks ; while in flight the white of the lower part of the 

 back and white band across the wings are no less conspicuous even 

 at a distance. A nearer view will reveal the rich chestnut of the 

 mantle and upper wing-coverts, and the combination of colours 

 suggests the term " tortoise-shell " often applied to it, while the 

 quill-feathers are mostly of a dark brown and its lower parts pure 

 white. The deeper tints are, however, peculiar to the nuptial 

 plumage, or are only to be faintly traced at other times, so that in 

 Avinter the adults — and the young always — have a much plainer 

 appearance, ashy-grey and white being almost the only hues 

 observable. From the fact that Turnstones may be met with at 

 almost any season in various jjarts of the world,^ and especially on 



1676 ; but he gave as an alias that of Sea-Dottrel {i.e. Ringed Plover) under 

 ■which name a drawing, figured by him (pi. 58), was sent to him by Sir Thomas 

 Browne. 



^ Linnpeus {(El. och Gothlandska JRcsa, p. 217), who first met with this bird 

 on the island of Gottland, 1st July 1741, was under the mistaken belief that it 

 was there called Tolk { — interpres). But that name properly belongs to the 

 Redshank, from the cry of warning to other animals that it utters on the 

 approach of danger {cf. Telltale). 



^ The authors of The Water Birds of North America (i. ji. 123) in reference 

 to tliis fact raise the pertinent question, " Do birds, after they have become old, 

 effete, or barren, prefer to stay in a warm climate ? " 



