The Black Turnstone 
Nesting. —Does not breed in California. Nest: A mere depression in sand 
of seabeach. Eggs: Much as in A. i. morinella. Av. size 40.6 x 27.9 (1.60 x 1.10) 
(Read). Season: June; one brood. 
General Range. —Breeds in western Alaska from the valley of the lower Yukon 
at least to Kotzebue Sound. Occurs casually (?) to Point Barrow and Wrangel Island. 
Winters south to coasts of Lower California. 
Occurrence in California. —Common along the coast, and especially on ex¬ 
posed or rocky portions, during migrations. Less common in winter on mainland 
coasts, but fairly abundant on the Santa Barbara Islands. Non-breeding birds^of 
casual occurrence or even local abundance in summer. 
Authorities.—Gambel ( Strepsilas melanocephala ), Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 
ser. 2, i., 1849, p. 220 (San Pedro; Monterey); Bowles and Howell , Condor, vol. xiv., 
1912, p. 11 (Santa Barbara; migr. dates); Howell, Pac. Coast Avifauna, no. 12, 1917, p. 50 
SAVE DURING the nesting season, the Black Turnstone is as 
characteristic of the Santa Barbara Islands and of the barnacle-covered 
reefs off our Pacific shores as is the Black Oyster-catcher in June. The 
birds move in little companies, cheered by rattling, piping cries, Kitur, 
kitur; and they seem to prefer the lowest possible reaches of the rock above 
the actual wash-line of the waves, where they may be wetted by incessant 
spray. When hushed into silence and immobility by the approach of a 
stranger, the birds themselves appear like little else than bunches of sea¬ 
weed or knobs of the somber reef; but when reassured as to the stranger’s 
intent, they begin to stir about and chatter. Now and then one of them 
runs at his fellows with outstretched bill and neck, and a fine scuffle, or 
flight, ensues. When they take to wing, as they do by a common flock 
impulse, the transformation in appearance is a delight to the eye. In¬ 
stead of a row of dull-colored clods, there appears a constant cyclorama 
of flashing whites, set off by variegating blacks. 
Taken at Coronado 
SEVEN BLACK TURNSTONES 
Photo by Dickey 
1343 
