178 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. xv. 



attack note is somewhat like " tche-wick ... tche-wick, tche- 

 wi-i-i-i-i-i-ck." This with a one-second interval between the 

 first two double syllables. The succession of " i's " stand for 

 a rippling note which it is impossible to reproduce on paper. 



Both sexes incubate, but when the eggs are fresh or partly 

 incubated the hen seems to brood and the cock stands on guard. 

 When the eggs were within a day or two of hatching or were 

 just chipping we invariably found the cock incubating, and 

 when the young were out we always found the cock looking 

 after the family and the hen with her duller plumage and 

 weaker notes, on guard. These characteristics observed in 

 the cases of nineteen pairs should form a useful basis for 

 further research. 



When the nest is approached the first indication is one 

 of the birds standing on guard anything from half a mile to 

 fifty yards from its sitting mate. Sometimes we found that it 

 gave the quiet alarm note to its fellow and then turned on us 

 with the full blast of Turnstone invective, and at other times 

 we found that we got the attack first and that after the bird 

 thought it had given us something to think about, it turned 

 tail and warned its mate, returning to us almost at once. 

 When the cock got alarmed by our approach he would come 

 very close, and I have had a cock Turnstone within three 

 paces of me. The hen I noticed was more diffident of approach 

 and usually kept a respectful distance. The bird on guard 

 usually selected a large stone or boulder to watch for the 

 approach of danger, and when one came near either flew 

 away in a semicircle or flew over one's head to a position hard 

 by, but alwaj^s tried to find some kind of eminence from which 

 to sound his attack note. I call it the attack note because 

 the moment one showed any sign of retreat he would follow 

 with redoubled vocal efforts until one was well off his ground. 



On flushing the cock bird from four young in down on the 

 Mouettes Islands I was shown an example of his tenacity and 

 intelligence. I had taken the young birds away in my pocket 

 and had run back to the boat across a neck of land some three 

 hundred yards broad. The cock chased me a little way and 

 then disappeared. On reaching the sea, however, on the other 

 side of the small peninsula, I immediately saw the cock fly 

 round the point and make straight for me, and he stood and 

 chattered at me until we rowed away in the boat. The hen 

 put in no appearance at all. 



When the bird on guard had given the alarm the sitting 

 bird, as far as we could see, flew directly off the eggs, or at 

 any rate only ran a yard or two before taking to flight and 



