BLACK TVBNSTONE 



495 



The Black Turnstone is an easy bird to recognize. The combination 

 of its moderate size (about that of Killdeer), predominantly blackish 

 plumage, notably on the forward lower surface, the conspicuous white 

 wing bar, and the alternating brownish black and white from the back 

 to the tip of the tail, insure identification. From the Ruddy Turn- 

 stone the present species may be known by its slightly larger size, by 

 the lack of striking pattern on its head and upper surface, and by the 

 farther extension of black on its lower surface. The presence of con- 

 tinuous black on the forward half of the lower surface, sharply cut 

 o£E from the white behind, is suflfieient to distinguish the Black Turn- 

 stone from any of our other shore birds which approach it in size. 



Black Turnstones are found singly, in small flocks, or in companies 

 numbering up to forty or more individuals; but they are most fre- 

 quently observed in flocks of moderate size. In Alaska, on the breed- 

 ing grounds, these birds frequent pools and marshy land a few miles 



inland, as well as the seashore, but in 



California they restrict themselves with 



notable constancy to the vicinity of the 



open ocean. Rocky beaches are their 



preferred habitat, but they also forage' 



considerably on sandy shores, in either 



ease usually at the edge of the water. 



They are quite tame and will often 



permit a rather close approach, espe- 

 cially if the observer is careful to move 



slowly. 



Torrey (1913, pp. 37-39) records in a vivid style the feeding 



habits of the Black Turnstone at Santa Barbara : 



Fig. 

 Black 



79. Side of bill of 

 Turnstone. Natural 



Note slight upward curve 

 and tapering end. 



They were feeding in three ways. Sometimes they followed the receding 

 breaker, gleaning from the surface, as it seemed, such edibles as it had washed 

 in. Mostly, however, they busied themselves upon the wet sand just above the 

 last reach of the falling tide. 



Once they found a place where the shrimps or prawns were evidently more 

 plentiful than elsewhere, and it was amusing to see how eagerly they worked, 

 each determined to get its full share of the plunder. . . . Thrusting their short, 

 stout bills into the sand, they drew out their squirming prey, dropped it on 

 the sand, picked it up and shook it, and dropped it again, till finally they 

 had it in condition for swallowing. These manoeuvres they repeated, all in 

 desperate competitive haste, till the beach within a circle a few feet in cir- 

 cumference was thickly dotted with minute hillocks of sand, such as I should 

 never have attributed to the work of any bird, had it hot been done before 

 my eyes. Then the supply seemed to be exhausted, and . . . they moved on 

 in search of another bonanza. 



At other times they resorted to patches of seaweed lying here and there a 

 little higher on the beach, turning them bottom side up, or brushing them aside, 

 to feast on such small game as had taken shelter underneath. Their action 



