TURNSTONES. 
171 
he never heard of the eggs being found, he seems to have been 
correct in his supposition. As long ago as 1859 a boy brought 
me some eggs from Woodwick, among which were two which 
were so like those of the Turnstone that I always considered 
them as such, although unwilling to label them, as the finder 
could give no account whatever either of birds or nests. For 
years after this I was sadly tantalised by seeing Turnstones 
about the shores of Unst during the breeding season, — not small 
flocks, which merely waited until summer was well advanced, 
but pairs, which lingered about particular localities. It was 
seldom, however, that the pair were seen together; the male 
might be feeding upon the beach and the female several hundred 
yards away upon the rough stony ground. The most likely 
place of all seemed to be between Skioting and Clugan, and to 
this spot I directed my attention more particularly. It was a 
peculiarly wild spot, quite out of the way of the people’s track 
to and from their cottages and boats, and, so far as I could 
imagine, well suited to the breeding habits of the birds. The 
ground is rough and quite uncultivated, backed by stony hills, 
and gradually sloping towards masses of weather-worn rocks, 
which form a barrier preventing the encroachments of the sea. 
Where the vegetation gradually ends, the ground is very irregular 
and stony, tufts and patches of long rank grass apparently of- 
fering most suitable nesting-places. On the evening of the 
16th of June, observing a female Turnstone behaving very 
suspiciously, I searched most minutely among the grassy de- 
pressions and hollows for more than two hours, and was wan- 
dering, almost in despair, upon the gravelly and stony edge 
which had been washed bare by the winter’s spray, when, to 
my delight, there lay three eggs in a hollow among the stones, 
slightly sheltered from the north by a flattened fragment which 
partly overhung them. The hollow, which had evidently been 
artificially formed, was scantily lined with dry grass, and 
measured a little less than five inches across. I was rather 
surprised that the bird displayed no anxiety ; possibly she was 
watching me from some concealed position, and would have 
