246 CHARADRIIDAG 
a rule, low. Single birds may often be seen speeding swiftly 
along the fringe of the breakers. 
Nest.—The Turnstone breeds on the sea-coast, on islands 
and on the mainland, though in some localities the nest has 
been found several miles inland. A slight scraping in the 
ground, thinly lined with bits of withered herbage, repre- 
sents the nest, and this is usually concealed from view 
under a projecting rock, or amid vegetation. The eggs, four 
in number, are hght greenish-drab, marked with irregular 
spots and streaks of different shades of grey and brown. 
Incubation begins about the middle of June. 
From repeated observations made on adult birds in full 
nuptial plumage during the summer months, I am inclined 
to think that at least a small percentage of Turnstones may 
breed off the Irish coast, though the nest has never yet 
been found. Several writers are of the opinion that this 
species may breed on the islands and mainland of Scotland, 
particularly in the north-western section. 
Geographical distribution.—The Turnstone is remark- 
able for its wide breeding-distribution; it 1s found in 
Arctic and Northern Europe, Asia, and America. In 
Europe, the Baltic Sea seems to be its southern limit. As 
a bird of passage in autumn and winter it is found along 
the coast-lands of all the Continents of the Globe, as 
well as in Australia, New Zealand, and the Polynesian 
Islands. Smaller numbers visit inland waters on passage. 
DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 
PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial.—Top of head, streaked 
black and white; forehead, cheeks, throat, and sides of neck, 
white, circumscribed by broad bands of black which become 
confluent with the black on the breast; back and wings, 
richly variegated with chestnut-brown and black; lower 
back, white ; upper tail-coverts, brownish ; primaries, brown ; 
terminal half of tail-feathers, brown; basal half, white ; 
outer pair of tail-feathers, chiefly white; lower breast, 
abdomen, and under tail-coverts, pure white. 
Adult female nuptial—The white about the head and 
neck is less pure than in the male plumage, being finely 
speckled and streaked with greyish-brown, while the chest. 
nut markings are not so well defined. 
Adult winter, male and female.—The chestnut and black 
markings are replaced to a large extent by dark brown, and 
