THE TURNSTONE. 



307 



Wood Sandpiper (Totanus glareofa), the Green Sandpiper (Totamis 

 ochropus], the Common Sandpiper ( Totanus hypoleucus). The last 

 mentioned is the smallest, and also the most prized. 



The Turnstones (C Indus) inhabit the sea-coasts of both conti- 

 nents. A single known species alone has been traced over most parts 

 of Europe, the Cape of Good Hope, and various parts of Asia, 

 Australia, and North America. It owes its name to the peculiar 

 method it adopts to find its food. This habit consists of lifting up 

 the pebbles and shingles which lie spread over its domain, the sea- 





Fig. 120. Turnstone. 



shore, in order to discover the worms, Crustacea, and insects con- 

 cealed underneath. For this purpose it is provided with a bill of 

 medium length, tapering, pointed, and hard, which it uses adroitly as 

 a lever. It lives a solitary life, and does not even congregate with 

 its own species for the purpose of migration. Only in the North, 

 whither it repairs to breed, does it manifest any approach to socia- 

 bility. The female lays three or four rather large eggs of an ashy- 

 grey colour ; these are deposited in the bottom of a hole dug in the 

 sand on the shore. The young are very precocious, for on leaving 

 the shell they run about with their parents to seek their sustenance. 

 The only species of this genus (Ci?ic/us interpres, Fig. 120) is a. 



