338 STREPSILIN.E DROMADIN^. 



the others ; plumage variegated ; bill varied, stout ; legs long or 

 moderate. 



SUB-FAMILY, Strepsilinse. 



Bill short, conical, with the culmen flattened, the tip com- 

 pressed and truncated ; upper mandible slightly turned upwards ; 

 nostrils basal ; wings long, very pointed ; the first primary 

 longest ; tail rounded, of twelve feathers ; tarsus short ; tibia 

 barely denuded ; toes divided to the base ; a moderate hind-toe ; 

 claws short and pointed. 



GENUS, Strepsilas, Lin. 



The characters are those of the family, of which it is the sole 

 genus. 



Strepsilas interpres, Lin. 



860. Jerdon's Birds of India, Vol. II, p. 656 ; Murray's Verte- 

 brate Zoology of Sind, p. 233. 



THE TURNSTONE. 



Length, 8'25 ; wing, 6 ; tail, 2'5 ; tarsus, 1 ; bill at front, 075. 



Bill black ; irides deep brown ; legs orange -yellow. 



Head and neck white ; the crown of the head with some black 

 stripes ; a narrow black frontal band, continued behind the eye 

 and meeting another narrow stripe of the same color from the 

 base of the lower mandible ; shortly beyond these unite into 

 an incomplete collar, extending back along the sides of the neck, 

 and in front expanding and forming a broad gorget covering the 

 breast, and which, at its termination below, sends up another 

 incomplete band towards the shoulder of the wing ; mantle 

 and wings chesnut-brown mixed with black, especially on the 

 scapulars ; coverts edged with grey and whitish ; primaries 

 black, stem of the first white ; secondaries tipped greyish ; back, 

 rump, and upper tail-coverts white, crossed on the rump by a 

 black band ; tail white, with a broad subterminal . band of 

 black ; lower parts white. 



The female differs in having the colors not so distinct, and the 

 white on the head and neck less pure. 



In winter plumage the colors are not so pure and rich in tint 

 as in summer. 



The young have the upper plumage andjsides of the neck and 

 throat dark ashy-brown, the feathers edged paler and the lower 

 parts white. 



The Turnstone is a cold weather visitant to the sea-coast. It is 

 common about the Kurrachee Harbour, but is somewhat rare 

 lower down the coast. 



SUB-FAMILY, Dromadinse. 



Bill lengthened, compressed, smooth, barely grooved, very 

 strong, with the culmen gently arching towards the tip,, which is 



