THE TURNSTONE. 



{Arenaria intcrpres.) 



\lx. Herbert K. Job has said: ''Many 

 a sojourn by the sea has been bright- 

 ened for me by the presence of the 

 shore-birds. They are Nature's con- 

 tribution toward fiUing a vacuum. 

 Every other sort of locahty — forest, 

 pasture, prairie, ' mountain, swamp and 

 ocean — has its pecuHar birds, and so 

 has, therefore, the shore." Among 

 these birds of the shore none are more 

 interesting or handsome than the Turn- 

 stones. While they are nearly cosmo- 

 politan in their distribution, they fre- 

 quent only the marine beaches and, in 

 the interior of America, the shores of 

 the Great Lakes and the larger rivers. 

 For this reason they are not known to 

 a large number of those who are inter- 

 ested in birds. If one desires to study 

 the Turnstones, a visit to the seacoast 

 during their migrations is desirable. 

 There they are not uncommon at the 

 time of their northward journey in May, 

 and also during their southward trip in 

 the fall. In such a locality, they may 

 often be seen feeding along the outer 

 beaches, either in small flocks of their 

 own kind or associated with other shore- 

 birds such as the semipalmated and 

 Wilson's plovers, the plover-like sand- 

 piper, or sanderling, and the semipalmat- 

 ed sandpiper, or "peep" as it is often 

 called. Not infrequently they may be 

 seen feeding singly, or in groups of 

 three or four. Their migrations take 

 them as far southward as Patagonia. It 

 is evident that they are birds of strong 

 and rapid flight, for they travel from 

 Patagonia northward to the Arctic re- 

 gions where they nest. 



When in an assemblage of other birds 

 with which they are liable to associate, 

 the Turnstones are easily distinguished 

 when feeding, by their larger size ; by 

 the black of the neck and sides of the 

 breast, and the variegated reddish 

 brown color of the back. They may 



also be easily known when in flight by 

 a peculiar display of white. Not only 

 is the plumage of the under surface of 

 their bodies white, but also that of the 

 linings of the wings. Their legs have 

 an orange red color. 



The Turnstones seem almost bur- 

 dened with common names. Because of 

 the variegated coloring of their backs 

 they are called Calico Backs and Check- 

 ered Snipes, and their red legs have 

 given them the name of Red-legged 

 Plover, as in some of their character- 

 istics they resemble the plovers. Un- 

 like nearly all the other beach birds 

 whose plain and soft colors harmonize 

 so well with the sand that they are quite 

 inconspicuous except when in motion, 

 the Turnstones' strikingly colored plu- 

 mage makes them always conspicuous. 

 Possibly it is a knowledge of this un- 

 fortunate condition that makes them shy 

 and inclined to be wild. They are very 

 fond of the eggs of the horsefoot or 

 king crab and are often called Horsefoot 

 Snipes. Brant Bird and Chicken Plover 

 are also common names of these birds. 

 The name Turnstone, however, is a par- 

 ticularly appropriate designation, for it 

 perfectly describes one of their most 

 marked habits. Upon the beaches where 

 they feed, they actively search for the 

 small marine creatures by turning over 

 stones, pebbles, shells, masses of sea- 

 w^eed, clods of earth and pieces of rub- 

 bish. Ordinarily, the bill only is used 

 to turn over lighter substances. The 

 bill is inserted under the object and the 

 head given a quick jerk. Sometimes 

 the head and the breast are used to assist 

 in pushing over some of the heavier ob- 

 jects. At times the birds will try to 

 overturn a stone or clod which is larger 

 and much heavier than themselves, and 

 sometimes they fail after trying a num- 

 ber of times. They seldom leave a feed- 

 ing ground until they have patiently ex- 



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