542 TURNSTONE. 



during the cold season its range extends over Asia, and down to 

 Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand, Polynesia, South America 

 and the African region. Mr. Godman believes that the Turnstone 

 breeds in the Azores, and it may possibly do so in the Canaries, while 

 Mr. Tait says that in Portugal it is usually seen near the mouth of 

 the Douro "from the beginning of April till the middle of September," 

 adding that in the summer of 1869 a young bird was brought to 

 him alive and kept in a cage for many months ; no eggs have, 

 however, been taken south of the Baltic. On migration the Turn- 

 stone is found along the entire coast line of Europe and on many 

 inland waters, and it is generally distributed in North America, 

 breeding in the Arctic regions ; but S. melajiocephalus^ a second 

 member of this small genus, is also found in Alaska and California. 



The nest is a shallow depression, lined with a few dry leaves and 

 bents, under the shelter of such bushes or scanty herbage as grow 

 on the coasts of the northern seas, or upon ledges of rock on their 

 islets. The eggs, 4 in number, are very distinct from those of any 

 other species, being of a greenish-grey colour, spotted and streaked 

 somewhat spirally with bluish-ash and brown : average measure- 

 ments I "6 by i*i in. Incubation, shared by both sexes, takes place 

 about the middle of June, only one brood being reared in the 

 season. The Turnstone feeds chiefly on small crustaceans and 

 molluscs, in search of which it may.be seen — sometimes in parties 

 — turning over stones or examining sea-weed, whence its Norfolk 

 name of ' Tangle-picker.' It is easily tamed, and Mr. Tait has 

 given an interesting account of the manner in which his captive 

 bird called down a Whimbrel with which it afterwards lived (Ibis, 

 1887, p. 387). The note is a clear whistle, but a loud twittering is 

 often uttered by the bird when on the wing. 



In spring, as shown in the illustration, the adult male has the 

 head, neck, upper breast and shoulders variegated with black and 

 white ; mantle streaked with chestnut and black ; rump conspicuously 

 white, followed by a dark brown patch on the coverts, most of the 

 tail-feathers being of the same colour ; under parts white ; legs and 

 feet orange-red, hind-toe turning inwards and not backwards. 

 Length 9 in. ; wing 6 in. The female is slightly duller in colour, 

 and in autumn the chestnut tint is much reduced in both sexes. 

 The young bird has the forehead and cheeks brown, collar dark 

 umber, merely a bufifish tint to the margins of the wing-coverts and 

 secondaries, feathers of the back tipped with dull white. 



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