56 c ' 



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9 



the Bahamas in April, and Wedderburn and Hurdis met with it in the Bermudas ; Dr. Gundlach 

 speaks of it as being common on the sea-shore in Cuba from September to May ; Gosse met with 

 it in Jamaica; and Professor Newton and his brother, Mr. E. Newton, met with it in April 1857, 

 and September 1858, on the island of St. Croix. On the west coast of North America the present 

 species is replaced by a much darker species (S. melanocephalus), which differs in having the 

 upper surface of the body blackish brown, and the head, neck, and breast sooty brown, the 

 feathers on the breast with dark markings at the tip, and no rufous in the plumage. 



In its habits the present species is a true shore-bird, frequenting, so far as I can judge from 

 personal experience, the rock-bound rugged portions of the coasts in preference to the marshy 

 mud flats where the other Waders are usually to be met with, though it may also be occasionally, 

 though rarely, seen in these latter localities. It feeds on the larvae of various sorts of insects, 

 small crustaceans, and marine worms, which it picks up from amongst the stones or on the 

 ground. It runs with celerity, and may not unfrequently be found consorting with other Sand- 

 pipers, especially Dunlins. Its flight is generally in semicircular curves, the wings being not 

 fully extended, but sickle-shaped ; and it propels itself by quick powerful strokes of the wing. 

 It turns with ease, and is now to be seen gliding down close to the water, now tolerably high 

 up in the air. Its note is a clear and loud whistle, resembling the syllables kee, kee, kee, first 

 uttered slowly, and gradually accelerated. Its alleged habit of turning stones (from which its 

 name is derived) has been noticed by but few observers ; and I myself have never seen it do 

 so. Audubon, however, relates an instance, from personal observation, of its stone-turning 

 propensity, and, speaking of four he observed on Galveston Island, says " they merely ran a 

 little distance out of our course, and, on our returning, came back immediately to the same 

 place ; this they did four different times ; and after we were gone they remained busily engaged 

 in searching for food. None of them were more than from fifteen to twenty yards distant; and I 

 was delighted to see the ingenuity with which they turned over the oyster-shells, clods of mud, 

 and other small bodies left exposed by the retiring tide. Whenever the object was not too large 

 the bird bent its legs to half their length, placed its bill beneath it, and with a sudden quick jerk 

 of the head pushed it off, when it quickly picked up the food which was thus exposed to view, 

 and walked deliberately to the next shell to perform the same operation. In several instances, 

 when the clusters of oyster-shells or the clods of mud were too heavy to be removed in the 

 ordinary way, they would not only use the bill and head, but also the breast, pushing the object 

 with all their strength, and reminding me of the labour which I have undergone in turning over 

 a large turtle. Among the sea-weeds which had been cast on the shore, they used only the bill, 

 tossing the garbage from side to side with a dexterity extremely pleasant to behold. In this 

 manner I saw these four Turnstones examine almost every part of the shore along a space of 

 from thirty to forty yards." 



About the first week in June the Turnstone deposits its eggs, its nest being a mere 

 depression in the soil, sometimes sparingly lined with a few grass-bents, the locality selected 

 being usually, if not always, a sandy or rocky soil. On the island of Rugen, Naumann says, it 

 breeds regularly in sandy flats covered with heath and a few scrubby juniper bushes, and also in 

 bare sandy places ; and Mr. R. Collett writes repecting its nidification on the Norwegian coast as 

 follows : — " The last few years I have examined a considerable number of the nests of this 



