CHARAt)RlID.1-:. 



541 



THE TURNSTONE. 



Strepsilas int]^;rpres (Linnffius). 



This species, conspicuous by the variety of its plumage, is a 

 regular visitor to our sea-coasts, and at times to the margins of 

 lakes and large rivers. Young birds make their appearance by the 

 latter part of July, but the bulk of the migrants from the north do 

 not arrive till August ; comparatively few remaining on the east 

 coast of England after the autumn, though on the southern coasts, 

 and still more in the mild climate of the west, many stay through- 

 out the winter. In May the return northward takes place, yet 

 occasionally birds in nuptial dress, sometimes in pairs, remain 

 during the summer in localities apparently suitable for reproduction ; 

 but authenticated eggs have not yet been obtained in any part of 

 the United Kingdom, though diligent search might possibly be 

 rewarded among the islands of Scotland, or on the deeply-indented 

 shores of the west of Ireland, where the bird is at all times far 

 more plentiful than in England. 



The Turnstone breeds in (Greenland, Iceland (where it is 

 sedentary) and perhaps in the Fteroes ; but its best known and 

 most accessible nesting-places are on the coasts and islands of 

 Scandinavia, Denmark, and of the Baltic. It has occurred on Jan 

 Mayen, Spitsbergen and Novaya Zemlya, and is found in sunmier 

 along the northern coast of Siberia as far as liering Straits ; while 



