Turnstones 



simply pokes its bill under a lighter object, and, giving its head a 

 quick jerk, turns over the roof under which some small prey 

 thought itself secure, swallows the morsel, then runs off to the next 

 shell to repeat the operation. Seaweed is simply tossed aside. 



Joseph's coat doubtless showed no more variegated patch- 

 work than the turnstone's nesting plumage, which, however, 

 differs greatly in individuals, scarcely any two of which have pre- 

 cisely the same markings at any season. Because of this variety 

 the early ornithologists believed there were several more distinct 

 species of turnstones than actually exist. Other beach birds are 

 mostly clad in soft tints that so blend with the sand we can 

 scarcely distinguish them until they move; but the calico back, 

 although small, is ever conspicuous, and possibly because it knows 

 how hopeless concealment is, as compared with the confiding, 

 gentle little sandpipers and plovers, it is shy and wild. 



Small companies of three or four, or family parties, run about 

 the outer beaches with all the sprightliness of plovers, then stop 

 suddenly to meditate, then run on again, pausing to turn over a 

 shell now and then, but always active, and more ready to place 

 dependence on their fleet legs than on their wings to distance a 

 pursuer; yet when one goes too near, the turnstone rises, uttering 

 a few twittering, complaining notes, flaps its wings quickly, 

 sails low, and with a few more flaps and another sail soon alights 

 at no great distance, to return to the point where it was flushed 

 at its first opportunity. It is wonderfully patient and persistent 

 about exhausting the resources of one feeding ground before 

 looking for another. Wading about in a cove, it will sometimes 

 deliberately seat itself in the water, just as it squats on a beach, 

 and swim off easily to a safe distance across the inlet from the 

 intruder. 



A bird that travels from Patagonia to the Arctic Circle to nest, 

 naturally is a fast, strong flyer, the frequent sailings after quick 

 flaps of the wings resting them sufficiently to make long, unin- 

 terrupted flights possible. General Greeley found turnstones as 

 far north as he went, and reported that fledgelings which in 

 late June had emerged from clay colored eggs (blotched and 

 scrambled with grayish brown) were able to fly by the ninth of 

 July. A few birds take an inland route during the migrations, 

 and display their freaky feathers on the shores of the Great Lakes 

 and larger rivers. 



250 



