406 OYSTERCATCHER AND TURNSTONE 



THE TURNSTONE 

 [W. FARREN] 



Although the turnstone has been frequently met with during the 

 summer months in various parts of the British Isles, and under 

 conditions strongly suggesting that it might be nesting, there is no 

 satisfactorily authenticated instance of its doing so. Saxby was 

 strongly of opinion that the species nested in the Shetlands, and once 

 in mid-June he came upon a pair, the female of which was behaving 

 in a manner that convinced him that she had a nest. After a long 

 search he found a nest with three eggs, which he believed to belong 

 to this pair of birds. He did not, however, see either of them go to 

 the nest. 1 Saxby's description of the eggs leaves little doubt that 

 they were really turnstone's, which can hardly be mistaken for those 

 of any other British Wader. It is much to be regretted that the 

 eggs were not handed to some recognised authority for identification. 



The species has also been thought to nest in the Azores and the 

 Canary Islands. The probable explanation of the occurrence of the 

 birds during the nesting season in localities other than their known 

 breeding-haunts, is that every year a certain number do not breed, 

 and therefore abstain from the northward migration. At the 

 same time, it is not unreasonable to suppose that the turnstone 

 may sometimes be found nesting with us, very possibly in Ireland, 

 or on the islands to the west or north of Scotland. In its 

 distribution the turnstone is one of the most cosmopolitan of birds, 

 occurring on the shores of almost every part of the globe. With us it 

 is chiefly a bird of spring and autumn passage on its way to and from 

 its northern breeding-grounds (see " Classified Notes "). 



On the spring migration, turnstones in full breeding plumage 



1 Birds of Shetland, p. 171. 



