122 BIRDS OF TASMANIA. 



tions. The name of ' Turnstone ' is derived from its curious habit 

 of turning over pebbles to looli for the insects underneath, and 

 Colonel Fielder has in his possession a slab of stone several inches 

 square which he saw turned over by one of these birds. Edward, 

 the Banffshire naturalist, noticed three of them engaged upon mov- 

 ing the body of a fish, which, as they could not overturn it, they 

 undermined, and were then enabled to reach the insects which 

 were underneath the body. Mr. E. W. Nelson also says that the 

 species feeds upon the larvse of the insects which are found upon 

 the tens of thousands of seal carcasses strewn about the Seal 

 Islands in North-Western America. ' The call note of the Turn- 

 stone,' writes Mr. Seebohm, 'is a clear, loud, shrill whistle, 

 having some resemblance to the call notes of the Golden and Grey 

 Plovers, which may be represented by the syllable ' Ko ' or 

 ' Keet.' It has also a double note, which may be represented by 

 the syllables ' Kitter ' ; and not infrequently the single note is 

 added, making a treble note, ' Kitter keet.' In spring, during the 

 breeding season, it is said that these notes are often so rapidly 

 uttered that they form a trill.' " 



Sub-Family — Haematopodinae. 



*PIED OYSTER-CATCHER 

 {Hcematopus longirostris, Vieill.) 



Male. — Head, neck, back, wings, and chest sooty-black; rump, 

 under tail coverts, and abdomen pure white; irides crimson; legs 

 light brick colour. Dimensions in mm.: — Length, 493; bill, 74; 

 wing, 265; tail, 105; tarsus, 54. 



Female. — Plumage similar to male; bill longer by 15-17 mm. 

 and more slender. 



Young. — Head black; neck, back, tail, wing, and chest 

 brownish-black, the feathers margined with pale,rufous; rump and 

 upper tail coverts white, streaked with brownish-black; breast and 

 the rest of the under surface pure white; bill yellowish, tip black; 

 legs and feet flesh colour. 



Nest. — The only semblance of a nest is a shallow circular de- 

 pression scratched in the sand near the sea shore. 



Eggs. — Clutch two; somewhat elliptical in shape; texture some- 

 what coarse; surface glossy; ground colour light stone-grey, 

 spotted and blotched with umber; obscure markings of bluish-grey 

 appear as though under the surface. Dimensions in mm. of a 

 clutch :— (1) 64 X 41, (2) 63 x 40. 



Breeding Season. — September to December. 



Geographical Distribntion. — ^Coasts of Tasmania and several of 

 its larger dependencies, whole of the mainland; also New Zea- 

 land, New Guinea, and Moluccas. 



Observatio7is. — About the sea-shore around the coasts of Tas- 



