9 
Courtship dance 
Albatross . 
BANKO RETURNS TO 
FISH AND WILDLIFE 
Mr. Winston Banko, who worked 
for two years on the Pacific Ocean 
Biological Survey Program, recently 
has resumed work with the Fish and 
Wildlife Service of the U.S. Depart- 
ment of the Interior. 
While with the Pacific Program 
Mr. Banko was instrumental in de- 
vising and completing the Central 
Pacific Reference File which con- 
tains reproductions of almost all 
articles dealing with the biology 
of the Central Pacific Area. He 
was also of immense help in produc- 
ing the first issue of the Pacific 
Bird Observer . 
Mr. Banko is now in the Hawaiian 
Islands working on the Department 
of the Interior’s newly conceived 
program of study and preservationcf 
rare and endangered species of birth 
and mammals. Well known to conser- 
vationists for his highly-praised 
work on the once -endangered Trum- 
peter Swan, he will undoubtedly 
be of great value to the program. 
RUDDY 
TURNSTONE 
The Ruddy Turnstone, a species 
of circumpolar distribution during 
the breeding season, scatters widely 
over the Pacific in migration. 
This small stout shorebird, about 
nine inches long, is easily iden- 
tified in breeding plumage by its 
patchwork pattern, rich chestnut 
and black upperparts, black chest, 
and bright orange legs. It is most 
frequently seen in the Pacific in 
winter when the upperparts become 
a duller brown, but the combin- 
ation of orange legs and flashing 
white wing stripe makes the bird 
easy to identify. 
In the islands of the Pacific 
the turnstone feeds mostly on small 
Crustacea, molluscs, and various 
invertebrates picked from the shores 
of beach and lagoon. Other items 
in its diet prove it hardly a dainty 
feeder. On the seal -killing grounds 
in the Commander Islands, large 
flocks feed on the maggots from the 
putrid carcasses of fur seals. In 
the Leeward Islands of the Hawaiian 
group it is not unusual to find 
turnstone feeding among the excre- 
ment of the Hawaiian Monk Seal. 
The name "Turnstone" is derived 
from this bird's conspicuous habit 
of turning over small stones, 
shells, and other objects in its 
search for small organisms. So 
vigorous is its "turnstoning" ac- 
tivity that the stones and shells 
may be tossed seven or eight inches 
in the air. 
