The Turnstones 



On my last sally from the base of supplies I was determined to 

 press advantage home. The gulls, who would fain have occupied the 

 reef themselves, shrieked warnings when they saw me advancing upon 

 the unsophisticated Surf-birds. The latter gave attention, indeed, but 

 would not heed the repeated warnings. My advances had only the effect 

 of bringing all the flock together, whereas otherwise they would have 

 scattered over the entire ledge of, say, a hundred feet length. Now and 

 again the flock shifted, but always they came back, alighting at the ex- 

 treme tip of the reef where the waves frequently bandied them. For 

 the most part they fed silently, but as often as I made some unusual 

 demonstration, or as often as the wave swept about them, a murmur of 

 complaint arose. The flock came to attention, or a few shifted position 

 if the water was actually too deep; but the moment danger was over, 

 work was resumed upon the barnacles. 



My last exposure, the last of twenty-one plates, was made at a 

 distance of eighteen feet, and at that range only half of the flock would 

 go on the plate. The exposure (f. 16, 1-140) was perfectly timed, and it 

 marked, I am proud to confess, the most thrilling moment of a twenty- 

 year experience in bird photography. 



Taken near Santa Barbara 



SURF-BIRDS— THE PARTING SHOT 



Photo by the A ulhor 



No. 262 



Turnstone 



A. O. U. No. 283. Arenaria interpres interpres (Linnaeus). 

 Synonyms. — Calico-back. Calico-bird. Brant Snipe. Brant-bird. Check- 

 ered Snipe. Stone Snipe. Horsefoot Snipe. 



