THE TUKX-STOXE. 137 



the protection which the snow and ice afford to all that can 

 subsist under them, and also in consequence of the rapidity 

 with which the Arctic summer sets in, and the almost con- 

 tinual action of the sun after the water becomes liquid and 

 the shores clear, the Arctic regions are remarkably prolific of 

 small life in the summer, is true. It is also true that vast 

 multitudes of birds resort thither to nestle and rear their 

 broods for themselves ; and they find a supply of food more 

 easily, and are less disturbed by enemies there, than in per- 

 haps any other region of the globe. 



But, in order to return to the south of England by August, 

 or even by September, the turn-stones must be supposed to 

 leave the north when the season there is at the best, if not 

 before : for as the young do not, any mqre than the other 

 littoral birds, come to maturity in their plumage till & con- 

 siderable time after they break the shell, the incubation 

 would require to be begun by the time that the birds dis- 

 appear from the British shores, which is, in the same indi- 

 vidual birds, impossible. 



As little can we rationally suppose that the birds alternate 

 between this country and the north ; arriving early with us 

 one year, departing late the same : breeding late in the north 

 in the prime of the season ; remaining there, or nearly there, 

 for the winter ; breeding early the next season, and having 

 their broods so far advanced as to make their second appear- 

 ance in this country as early as August or September. 



These observations are not, of course, conclusive of the 

 fact that these birds do breed on the mainland of Britain ; 

 but they are sufficient for exciting to a diligent search for 

 the nests, and the excitement is heightened by the recent 

 discovery of the nests of some of our other resident birds, 

 especially of those species of the present order that have been 

 already mentioned. 



Turn-stones do not in general inhabit the bare and beaten 



