246 CHAKADKIIDyE 



a rule, low. Single birds may often be seen speeding swiftly 

 along the fringe of the breakers. 



Nest. The Turnstone breeds on the sea-coast, on islands 

 and on the mainland, though in some localities the nest has 

 been found several miles inland. A slight scraping in the 

 ground, thinly lined with bits of withered herbage, repre- 

 sents the nest, and this is usually concealed from view 

 under a projecting rock, or amid vegetation. The eggs, four 

 in number, are light greenish-drab, marked with irregular 

 spots and streaks of different shades of grey and brown. 

 Incubation begins about the middle of June. 



From repeated observations made on adult birds in full 

 nuptial plumage during the summer months, I am inclined 

 to think that at least a small percentage of Turnstones may 

 breed off the Irish coast, though the nest has never yet 

 been found. Several writers are of the opinion that this 

 species may breed on the islands and mainland of Scotland, 

 particularly in the north-western section. 



Geographical distribution. The Turnstone is remark- 

 able for its wide breeding-distribution; it is found in 

 Arctic and Northern Europe, Asia, and America. In 

 Europe, the Baltic Sea seems to be its southern limit. As 

 a bird of passage in autumn and winter it is found along 

 the coast-lands of all the Continents of the Globe, as 

 well as in Australia, New Zealand, and the Polynesian 

 Islands. Smaller numbers visit inland waters on passage. 



DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 



PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial. Top of head, streaked 

 black and white ; forehead, cheeks, throat, and sides of neck, 

 white, circumscribed by broad bands of black which become 

 confluent with the black on the breast ; back and wings, 

 richly variegated with chestnut-brown and black ; lower 

 back, white ; upper tail-coverts, brownish ; primaries, brown ; 

 terminal half of tail-feathers, brown ; basal half, white ; 

 outer pair of tail-feathers, chiefly white ; lower breast, 

 abdomen, and under tail-coverts, pure white. 



Adult female nuptial. The white about the head and 

 neck is less pure than in the male plumage, being finely 

 speckled and streaked with greyish-brown, while the chest - 

 nut markings are not so well denned. 



Adult winter, male and female. The chestnut and black 

 markings are replaced to a large extent by dark brown, and 



