15 
tarsi and toes red ; claws black. Length 9 incbes ; wing, from flexure, 6-25 j tail 2-5 ; bill, along the ridge 
, a on,^ the edge of lower mandible 1 ; tarsus 1 ; middle toe and claw I'l ; hind toe and claw '35. 
n winter. Has the entire plumage duller, and little or no chestnut on the upper surface, the feathers 
d black, tipped more or less with white, and slightly varied with ferruginous ; the facial mark 
ed above is less defined, and the black of the fore neck and breast is strongly suffused with brown. 
1 ■ •^'^ckland Museum there are two specimens ( ^ and ? ) obtained on the Manukau flats, in both of 
w lie the plumage of the upper surface is variegated with rich patches of rufous brown. 
™cn, writing in September 1870 (Journ. fiir Ornith. p. 349), expressed his conviction that, 
ot er species which breed in high northern latitudes and migrate southwards on the approach 
^^^ter, the common Turnstone would yet be met with on the New-Zealand coast ; and in the 
'1 season this prediction was amply verified by the capture of several specimens on the Ninety- 
^ e each, in the South Island. All of these were females in winter plumage ; but subsequently an 
^ Dip e in summer plumage was shot at the Wade, and another was sent to me by Mr. Robson from 
r an Island. Of late years the bird has become tolerably common as a seasonal migrant, being 
P 1’ icu arly numerous in certain months in Manukau harbour and in the Bay of Plenty. They were 
of abundant in the former locality in 1880 ; and Mr. Cheeseman informs me that in March 
seve ^1 ^ ^ flock there which must have contained upwards of a thousand birds, besides 
for ones. Some that were shot on this occasion were so extremely fat as to be quite useless 
or s inning, from the quantity of oily matter that exuded from the skin of the breast and completely 
ura e the feathers. According to his observations the birds usually arrive in November or 
em er, and depart in March or April, only a few of them remaining with us during the winter. 
^ Captain Mair has found it associating in flocks with the Godwit at Tauranga. He has obtained 
num er of both at a single shot, by ensconcing himself with his gun under a bush, and pouring a 
c ar^ into a flight of birds as they passed overhead. 
flistory of this familiar bird may be found in any standard work on European ornithology ; 
referent therefore to do more than furnish a description of the plumage for purposes of 
Nestling of Banded Dottrel (see page 4). 
