﻿358 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  MUSEUM 
  

  

  This 
  is 
  the 
  American 
  representative 
  of 
  the 
  common 
  turnstone 
  of 
  the 
  

   palearctic 
  region 
  which 
  also 
  reaches 
  Greenland 
  and 
  Alaska. 
  Our 
  species 
  

   breeds 
  from 
  Hudson 
  bay 
  to 
  the 
  Mackenzie 
  delta 
  and 
  migrates 
  southward 
  to 
  

   the 
  Gulf 
  States 
  and 
  South 
  America. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  common 
  transient 
  visitant 
  along 
  

   the 
  coast 
  of 
  New 
  York 
  arriving 
  in 
  the 
  spring 
  from 
  the 
  ist 
  to 
  the 
  15th 
  of 
  

   May, 
  passing 
  northward 
  from 
  the 
  ist 
  to 
  the 
  loth 
  of 
  June, 
  returning 
  from 
  

   the 
  23d 
  of 
  July 
  to 
  the 
  8th 
  of 
  August, 
  and 
  departing 
  for 
  the 
  South 
  between 
  

   September 
  20th 
  and 
  October 
  5 
  th. 
  In 
  the 
  interior 
  of 
  the 
  State 
  it 
  is 
  much 
  less 
  

   common 
  than 
  along 
  the 
  coast, 
  but 
  is 
  noted 
  almost 
  every 
  season 
  somewhere 
  

   in 
  western 
  New 
  York 
  between 
  the 
  20th 
  of 
  May 
  and 
  the 
  5th 
  of 
  June. 
  In 
  

   the 
  fall 
  it 
  is 
  no 
  commoner 
  than 
  in 
  the 
  spring, 
  occasionalh' 
  appearing 
  in 
  

   August 
  and 
  September 
  and 
  once 
  on 
  October 
  6th. 
  On 
  June 
  i, 
  1895, 
  I 
  

   witnessed 
  a 
  flight 
  of 
  hundreds 
  of 
  these 
  birds 
  in 
  company 
  with 
  Whistling 
  

   plovers, 
  sanderlings 
  and 
  other 
  shore 
  birds 
  on 
  Canandaigua 
  lake 
  in 
  Ontario 
  

   county. 
  The 
  island 
  bar 
  was 
  overcrowded 
  with 
  them 
  and 
  it 
  was 
  impossible 
  

   to 
  take 
  a 
  pair 
  of 
  tumstones 
  with 
  the 
  shot-gun 
  without 
  killing 
  a 
  dozen 
  others 
  

   and 
  a 
  few 
  Black-bellied 
  plovers, 
  and 
  sanderlings 
  and 
  sandpipers 
  at 
  the 
  

   same 
  time. 
  This 
  was 
  an 
  unusual 
  occurrence 
  and 
  the 
  birds 
  were 
  undoubtedh' 
  

   forced 
  to 
  alight 
  b}^ 
  the 
  strong 
  wind 
  which 
  had 
  been 
  blowing 
  for 
  several 
  

   hours 
  previously. 
  On 
  the 
  Great 
  Lakes 
  they 
  usually 
  occur 
  singly, 
  in 
  pairs, 
  

   or 
  in 
  small 
  companies. 
  

  

  The 
  Turnstone, 
  Calico-back, 
  Brant 
  -bird, 
  Horse-foot 
  snipe, 
  Heart 
  -bird. 
  

   Beach 
  plover, 
  and 
  Sea 
  quail 
  as 
  this 
  species 
  is 
  called, 
  from 
  its 
  habit 
  of 
  rolling 
  

   over 
  stones 
  in 
  search 
  of 
  the 
  small 
  crustaceans 
  beneath, 
  or 
  from 
  the 
  patch- 
  

   work 
  appearance 
  of 
  its 
  upper 
  parts, 
  or 
  from 
  its 
  simultaneous 
  appearance 
  

   with 
  the 
  flight 
  of 
  brant, 
  or 
  from 
  its 
  fondness 
  for 
  the 
  spawn 
  of 
  the 
  horseshoe 
  

   crab, 
  or 
  from 
  the 
  black 
  heart-shaped 
  marking 
  on 
  the 
  chest, 
  is 
  primarity 
  

   a 
  beach 
  bird 
  and 
  a 
  maritime 
  species, 
  evidently 
  visiting 
  our 
  inland 
  stations 
  

   when 
  taking 
  a 
  short 
  route 
  from 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  coast 
  to 
  Hudson 
  bay. 
  

  

  Family 
  HJ^lLEijVrATOF'ODIDAE 
  

  

  Oyster-catchers 
  

  

  Large; 
  bill 
  twice 
  as 
  long 
  as 
  head, 
  much 
  compressed, 
  sharp 
  edged, 
  trun- 
  

   cate, 
  contracted 
  above 
  the 
  nostrils 
  ; 
  legs 
  stout, 
  reticulate 
  ; 
  toes 
  with 
  thickened 
  

  

  