BUDDY TURNSTONE 491 



specimen (W. E. Bryant, 1888, p. 44) ; San Francisco Bay, January 

 28, 1901 (two specimens in Mailliard coll.) ; Stege, near Berkeley, 

 August 13, 1892 (specimen in ]\Ius. Vert. Zool.) ; Bay Farm Island, 

 Alameda County, September 18, 1914, one individual seen (Grinnell, 

 MS) ; and vicinity of Monterey, July 18, 1892, and August 25, 1897, 

 one specimen in each instance (Loomis, 1895, p. 224; J. Mailliard, 

 1898, p. 51). 



This species is most frequently met Avith in southern California. 

 Two were seen at Santa Barbara, July 26, 1909 (Torrey, 1909b, p. 

 174), but none was noted there in 1910. In 1911, however, birds of 

 this species were observed on five dates between August 22 and 

 September 12, in numbers ranging from one to six (Bowles and 

 Howell, 1912, p. 11; Howell, MS). The only record of occurrence 

 in spring in southern California is for San Nicolas Island, March 30 

 to May 11, 1910, during which period nineteen specimens were taken 

 (Willett. 1912a, pp. 41^2). There is one summer record for this 

 region: Santa Cruz Island, July 8, 1912, one individual (Wright and 

 Snyder. 1913, p. 91), and a number of fall ones, the latest being for 

 San Miguel Island, October 15, 1910, two seen (Willett, loc. cit.). 

 In all, there are twentj'-two records for the state known to the authors, 

 several of these being for more than one individual bird. 



The Ruddy Turnstone is an easy bird to recognize, by the com- 

 bination of moderately small size, short bill, short, orange-red legs, 

 conspicuously mixed pattern on head and upper surface, white band 

 across wing, double alternation of white and black areas from lower 

 back to tip of tail, and black chest and foreneck. This' species differs 

 from the Black Turnstone in being slightly smaller, in having a varie- 

 gated pattern of coloration on the back and a white chin, and in 

 having less black on its chest. Its bright reddish legs, heavy black 

 chest area, and the extensive white on its lower back, will distinguish 

 it from the sandpipers and plovers of similar size. Forbush (1912, 

 pp. 360-361) says of the Ruddy Turnstone as observed along the 

 eastern coast of the United States : 



The bright variegated plumage of the Turnstone, with its strong contrasts 

 of black, white and chestnut, places it among the most attractive birds of 

 the sea-shore. The flight is rather low and swift at times and then the white 

 of the plumage is very striking. In flight it often alternates scaling and flap- 

 ping, and sometimes gives a curious chattering or rattling note as it passes. 

 I have heard, too, the rapidly repeated MA-, Ml", 'kii'k, which a pair uttered as 

 they flew by overhead, but as a rule I have found them lather silent. . . . 



[The Turnstone] . . . loves the foot of a rocky cliff or a beach with great 

 stones partly submerged by the tide, but is common also on sandy beaches 

 near the pounding surf, and on bars bared by the tide. Sometimes it is seen 

 in marshes or along the banks of tidal creeks. It prods the sand with its beak, 

 follows the retreating w'ave, raises pebbles from their beds, oftentimes squat- 



