191 9'] Birds of the Canary Islands. 753 



Range. The Egyptian Plover inhabits the greater part of 

 west Africa, extending from the Coanza river to Senegal 

 and across north-east Africa to Egypt. 



Arenaria interpres interpres. Turnstone. 



Tringa interpres Linn. Syst. Nat. lOtli ed. 1758, 

 p. 148 — Type locality : Sweden. 



The Turnstone is a Bird of Passage and a Winter Visitor 

 in large numbers to the islands; many individual birds 

 remain throughout tlie summer. 



It is one of the commonest waders, excepting perliaps 

 the Kentish Plover, to be found in the Archipelago, those 

 which remain during the summer months doubtless being- 

 immature or non-breeding birds. 



When in the eastern islands in May and June, 1913, I 

 constantly met with large and small flocks all round the 

 coasts of Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, and Graciosa. Some few 

 birds were in full breeding-plumage, but those which I 

 dissected had the testes undeveloped (Ibis, 1914, p. 284). 



Von Thanner believes the Turnstone to be a regular Bird, 

 of Passage (Nov. Zool. xi. 1904, p. 431), but I do not know 

 from his notes whether he considers it passes through the 

 Archipelago at both the spring and autumn migration 

 seasons. Its numbers are certainly greatly augmented in 

 the winter : occasionally I have seen very large flocks in 

 Gran Canaria in January and February, and once on the 

 27th of January I watched an enormous flock of over a 

 hundred birds on the reefs in Confital Bay (Ibis, 1912, 

 p. 580). 



Polatzek met with it frequently on the shore and notably 

 in the eastern islands (Orn. Jahrb. 1909, p. 128). 



Godman stated (Ibis, 1872, p. 221) that the Turnstone 

 undoubtedly bred in Flores in the Azores, and I am sorry to 

 say I quoted this statement in my "Birds of Gran Canaria^' 

 (Ibis, 1912, p. 581) without further question. I do not 

 know what evidence Godman had when he wrote this, but 

 I cannot believe that the Turnstone has ever bred in any of 

 the Atlantic islands without having very definite proof. 

 Certainly Bolle, in 1852 and 1856, believed that such a thing 



