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 Photo by the Author 
SURF-BIRDS—THE PARTING SHOT 
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. 
