THE STILT-WALKERS. 



25 



which the first quill is the longest, some of the feathers being of unusual length. The tail, composed of 

 twelve feathers, is scarcely of medium size, and has a gently-rounded tip ; the conical beak is shorter 

 than the head, curves slightly upwards, and is flattened at its culmen ; the short legs are powerful ; the 

 foot furnished with four toes ; and the brightly-coloured plumage thick and compact. During summer 

 the adult male has the brow, cheeks, a broad collar on the nape, the lower part of the back, the throat, 

 feathers of the lower wing-covers, and a stripe above the wings of a pure white ; a line commencing 

 near the brow and passing near the eyes to the throat, the fore part and sides of the neck and breast 

 is black ; the mantle-feathers are spotted black and red, and those on the crown striped black and 



the Turnstone (Strepsilas interpret) 



white ; the feathers of the wing-covers are chestnut-brown, spotted with black, the quills blackish, and 

 the tail-feathers white at the roots and tip, with a broad black stripe near the extremity ; the rump also 

 shows a broad brown stripe. The eye is brown, the beak black, and foot orange-yellow. This species 

 is nine inches long and eighteen across the span of the wing ; the wing measures six inches and the 

 tail six inches and a half. In the young the plumage is a mixture of blackish brown and rust-yellow, 

 the fore part of the body being greyish black. 



These birds are met with in all parts of the world, everywhere occupying the sea-coast. In 

 Scandinavia, Iceland, and Greenland, they appear at the end of April or beginning of May and leave 

 again about the end of the last week of August, at which time they occur on the shores of the 

 Mediterranean. They visit England regularly, remaining during the winter and going north to breed. 

 They are restless and active birds, and run rapidly, with wings lowered, but usually only for a short 

 VOL. iv. — 122 



