Chapter C: J. Maynard (1896) says that they sometimes resort to marshes and (1)

feed on grasshoppers. Their main food supply evidently consists of small crustaceans, small mollusks, insects, and their larvae, all of which they consume in large quantities and in great variety. In Massachusetts it is sometimes called the “horse-foot snipe,” because of its fondness for the eggs of the horse-foot crab. John T. Nichols tells me that it scratches up the eggs by “jumping in the air and striking with both its feet at once into the sand, thus making a hole about 3 inches deep and 1½ inches across.”

Dr. Alexander Wetmore contributes the following interesting notes:

The greatest surprise came when on Laysan Island it was
found that these and other shore birds were persistent
enemies of the sooty and gray-backed terns, as they
destroyed the eggs of the terns at every opportunity. For
the first few days when turnstones were seen greedily
eating terns’ eggs I supposed that they were merely
finishing eggs that had been opened by other birds, but
on further observation found that these shore birds were
bold marauders that drove their bills into the eggs of
terns at every opportunity and were only prevented from
attacking the nests of boobies and man-o-war birds by the
fact that the shell of the egg in these species was so
hard that they could not break it. As we moved through the
great colonies of sooty terns the birds near at hand rose
before us from their eggs, often communicating the alarm
to neighbors so that at times clouds of birds arose to
fill the air. At our heels, 15 or 20 feet behind us, came
little groups of turnstones well aware that this uproar
among the sharp-beaked terns meant unprotected nests, where
they could attack the eggs with impunity. The turnstones
ran quickly about driving their bills into the eggs without
the slightest hesitation, breaking open the side widely and
feeding eagerly on the contents, sometimes two or three
gathering for an instant to demolish one egg and then
with this one half consumed running on to attack another.
The havoc wrought among the terns was so great that we
forbade the sailors from approaching the colonies, and
made it a rule among the naturalists to keep away except
when necessity for some observation made it imperative to
disturb the birds.

The densely packed colonies of aggressive sooty terns were
open to attack mainly along the borders except when the
birds were disturbed, but the little scattered groups of
gray-backed terns (_Sterna lunata_) on the open beaches
were entirely at the mercy of the turnstones, so that
it seemed that the gentle terns could not hope for a
successful nesting until the close of May carried the horde
of their marauding persecutors away to northern homes.
So bold were the shore birds that on one occasion I saw
two actually push aside the feathers on the sides of the
incubating tern, drag her egg from beneath her breast, and
proceed to open and devour it within 6 inches of the nest.
The tern remained in incubating pose, plainly troubled by
such unexpected boldness but seemingly not comprehending
its portent, nodding her head with that of her mate
standing beside her, and finally reaching out to draw the
half-empty shell of her treasure again beneath her, while
the robbers, temporarily satisfied, pattered away in search
of other prey. On several occasions when, in walking along
the beaches above high-tide mark I flushed gray-backed
terns from their nests, I saw that they carried with
them as they flew away shells of broken eggs, which not
understanding that they had been destroyed they had covered
while the hardening albumen flowing over the outside of the
shell had glued the whole to their feathers.

The Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain contributes the following notes on the food of this species:

As it is almost invariably found near the coast the food
is chiefly marine in character: Mollusca, chiefly small
univalves such as _Litorina_ (L. Florence records 134
opercula of small molluscks); small Crustacea, especially
Gammaridae; A. H. Clark records fry of a small fish
(_Sicydium plumieri_) up to 1½ inches in length; insects,
including Coleoptera, Diptera (_Tipulidae_ and larvae of
_Chironomidae_), Lepidoptera (_Argynnis charidea_ and
_Dasychira groenlandica_) recorded by H. C. Hart and
_Hymenoptera_. Also Arachnida and Acaridea (Feilden). Also
some vegetable matter (seeds of _Draba alpina_, pieces of
seaweed, etc.).

_Behavior._--When migrating turnstones fly in large flocks by themselves or with black-bellied plovers, often in immense flocks; at such times they usually fly high. But, while sojourning on the way, they are usually in small numbers and very often seen singly. One or two birds are often associated with mixed flocks or scattered gatherings of semipalmated plover, sanderlings, or other small waders. Their flight is strong, swift, and steady, usually direct, but sometimes in a semicircle, out from the shore and back again; when not traveling they generally fly low. There is something peculiar about their flight which can be recognized at a long distance, but I can not describe it satisfactorily. They are essentially shore birds, frequenting the stony, rocky, or sandy beaches of the seashore or the larger lakes. They are not particularly shy, and sometimes very tame. When they first alight they stand and survey the landscape until sure that they are safe. They then mingle freely with the other small waders, feeding unconcernedly, and treating their companions with indifference until one comes too near. Then the turnstone shows its jealous and pugnacious disposition; it will allow no competition, in the spot where it is feeding, from another bird, even of its own species, but with lowered head, drooping wings, and hunched up back it rushes at the intruder in a threatening attitude and perhaps gives him a few jabs with its sharp bill. Many a miniature cockfight or sham battle is enacted and the turnstone is generally the aggressor, though once I saw a sanderling drive away a turnstone. It appears like a big bully that is attracted to the feast that others have found and then is unwilling to share it with them.

Turnstones can swim well and probably alight on the water to rest while making long flights over the ocean. Dr. Donald B. MacMillan (1918) saw “a large flock alight upon the water in Kennedy Channel.” They love to bathe in shallow water, squatting down and fluttering their wings, sometimes partly rolling over; then they spend much time preening and dressing their pretty plumage. N. B. Moore says in his notes that “this species alights on the dead branches of mangroves, stumps, and stakes that stand in the water near the shore from 2 to 6 feet above it and sits in the manner of a Carolina dove.”

_Voice._--John T. Nichols has contributed the following on the ordinary notes of the turnstone:

The common flight note of this species is an unloud
polysyllabic one, something like a cackle, which does not
carry far. It is usually given by birds that are leaving
the vicinity, but not so frequently heard at other times
as are the flight notes of various species. This note
is sometimes three syllabled, _ketakek_, or may be of a
single syllable, _kek_, on taking wing. A much rarer, loud,
plover-like _kik-kyu_ has been heard from a turnstone when
coming to decoys or flying along the edge of favorable
marshes. The cackle of the turnstone is almost impossible
to imitate, but they will decoy readily to a whistled
imitation of the cry of their associate the black-bellied
plover.

The song of the turnstone as heard on its breeding grounds few have been privileged to hear. Mr. Brandt calls it “a loud but not unpleasant note, rapidly repeated--_kye-ute-cat-tat-tah_.” Mr. Jourdain has given us, under courtship, his impressions of it and those of Messrs. Trevor-Battye and Paget-Wilkes.

_Field marks._--The turnstone is a conspicuous and well-marked bird, not likely to be mistaken for anything else. It is a stout, short-legged bird with a short neck and a short, straight bill. In its brilliant spring plumage the white head, black throat, red legs, and rufous back are unique field marks. But the best field marks, most conspicuous in the nuptial plumage, but present in all plumages, are the five white stripes on the upper surface, which show very plainly as the bird flies away; these are a broad central stripe on the back, separated by a black patch on the rump from the white area in the tail, a narrow stripe on the outer edge of the scapulars and a band across the wing on the secondaries and primaries. Unfortunately for observers on the Pacific coast, the black turnstone has somewhat similar white stripes, but the pattern is a little different.

_Fall._--Adult turnstones begin to leave their summer homes in Greenland about the middle of July, with the knots and sanderlings, and before the end of August the last of the young birds have left. Lucien M. Turner obtained an adult from Davis Inlet on July 25; but the species apparently avoids Ungava, for the only bird he saw there was a young male taken on August 20. Probably the birds which breed in western Greenland migrate coastwise along the Labrador coast and Nova Scotia to New England. We saw the first turnstones at Cape Sable, Nova Scotia, on July 30 and 31; but my earliest record for adults in Massachusetts is on August 1; adults are common here all through August; the young birds come along late in August, and I have seen them here as late as October 12.

There is a heavy migration down the west coast of Hudson Bay. Edward A. Preble (1902) saw the first turnstones at Fort Churchill on July 30; and on August 10 to 13 he “observed many small flocks about 25 miles south of Cape Eskimo”; August 21 to 26 he saw “many flocks daily.” From the Hudson Bay region the main flight seems to be southeastward through the Great Lakes region to the Atlantic coast. It seems to be very rare in the fall west of eastern Manitoba and Ohio; and it extends as far east as the Bermudas and the West Indies.

Some of the birds which breed in Alaska migrate down the Pacific coasts of North and South America at about the same dates as the Atlantic coast birds; but large numbers pass down the Asiatic coast, through Japan and China, to islands in the Southern Hemisphere. Doctor Stejneger (1885) says that in the Commander Islands during the latter part of July large flocks return from the north.

From this time until late autumn enormous masses of
them may be seen on the killing grounds, near the seal
rookeries, where thousands of putrified carcasses of the
slain fur seals swarm with myriads of the white larvae of
the flesh fly, upon which the pretty turnstones feed and
grow exceedingly fat. At sunset they retire to the beach,
where they pass the night, not, however, without having
performed a soldierlike drill by flying up and down the
endless tundra, now in full body, now again in detached
divisions, and with admirable precision turning and
maneuvering as if obeying the command of a leading officer.

As to the migration on the Pribilof Islands, William Palmer (1899) writes:

On July 12, 1890, I saw probably the first bird that landed
on St. Paul during the fall migration. From that date they
daily increased rapidly until by the end of July they
swarmed everywhere. They reach the island by way of the
northeastern shore and in straggling flocks or singly fly
southward through the island during the day, banking up in
large numbers when the village killing ground is reached.
They spread out on the slopes, resting on the rocks and
little hillocks during the day. They soon find the feast
awaiting them on the killing ground, and the marks of their
work around nearly every seal carcass is soon noticeable.
As the water disappears by soakage and evaporation in the
village pond they turn up the black sand in thousands of
little hillocks, each with a narrow depression made by
their bill beside it. At low tide the lagoon beaches are
a favorite resting and feeding place. By the end of July
many become so fat that they are run down and captured by
the young Aleuts. Their departure from St. Paul is quite a
feature of the avifaunan exhibition. About 6 in the evening
a small flock of perhaps 40 birds will rise into the air
from about the village pond and uttering loud, shrill cries
will fly up to near the head of the lagoon. Here making a
wide sweep they return, gathering fresh recruits on their
way, until the vicinity of the pond is again reached.
Sweeping around in a constantly ascending course they
return up the lagoon, and turning once more, screaming as
they go, and adding to their numbers, they make a straight
course high over the village hill and on out to sea over
the reef point. This invariably took place every evening
during the latter part of my stay on the island. It was
always the rule that a dense fog bank hung all around
the island at that time, so that even the reef point was
not visible, but the birds went into the fog without the
slightest hesitation. They left their landmarks behind.
Several flocks averaging about a hundred birds left nearly
every evening from the end of July until I left on August
10. The first arrivals on the island were always adults;
the young were not noted for at least 10 days. According
to Elliott they all leave the islands after the 10th of
September.

Many of these birds must make the 2,000-mile flight over the ocean from the Commander or Aleutian Islands to the Hawaiian Islands. They have repeatedly been seen in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, hundreds of miles from land. This does not seem so remarkable, now that we know that they can alight and rest on the water and rise from it easily. They must go a long time without food or find a very scanty supply of it, as it must take 40 or 50 hours to make the trip. But Dr. Henry W. Henshaw (1902) says that some of the first arrivals on these islands, which he shot about the middle of August, “were all of them plump and in fine order for the table.”

_Game._--The turnstone has never attained great importance as a game bird, though it was formerly counted in the list of “big birds” in the gunner’s bag. It was plump and generally fat, so that it made a good table bird. It has a variety of local names, such as chicken plover, calico bird, brant bird, etc. It decoys well to almost any decoys and, although its own note is difficult to imitate, it will respond readily to the call of its favorite companion, the black-bellied plover.

_Winter._--The ruddy turnstone spends the winter on the coasts of the southern States and on both coasts of South America, from South Carolina to Brazil and from southern California to Chile. The larger, Old World form, _interpres_, apparently does not winter anywhere in the Western Hemisphere, but occupies the coasts of southern Europe and Asia, much of Africa, some of the oceanic islands, and Australia. If we are to recognize the Pacific form, _oahuensis_, there is yet much to be learned about the limits of its winter and summer ranges and where it intergrades with _interpres_. The island of Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands is the type locality of _oahuensis_; and it probably has a wide range among Pacific islands.

Dr. Alexander Wetmore says in his notes:

In the remote islands of the Hawaiian bird reservation the
turnstone is common during the period of northern winter,
and a few sterile or injured individuals may remain through
the summer. Though common along the sandy beaches and the
shores of lagoons, as is usual, at times they exhibited
curious habits, as on Ocean Island they ran back from
the open shore beneath the thickets of beach magnolia
(_Scaevola_), penetrating the entire island in cover as
dense as that ordinarily chosen by woodcock. It was always
a surprise when one, attracted by some sound, flew up from
under the bushes and perched on a dead branch to look at
me. On Midway turnstones ran about on the lawns at the
cable station like robins, with so domestic and contented
an air that it was at times difficult to recall that they
were here merely as transients, and that soon they would be
nesting in arctic tundras.

Charles Barrett writes to me from Australia, as follows:

One of our most interesting summer visitors, the turnstone
frequents open beaches on the mainland generally in small
flocks, and also favors reefs and coral strands among the
tropical and subtropical islands. When camped, with other
members of the Royal Australasian Ornithologists’ Union, on
Masthead Island, Capricorn Group, Queensland, in October,
1910, I observed many turnstones on the white coral-sand
beach. Apparently, with waders of other species, they had
recently arrived, after the long flight from their breeding
grounds. They were active enough, but in poor condition.
During migration, they can have little chance to obtain
food, and the strain of flying thousands of miles affects
even the healthiest birds. But they obtain abundance of
food in their Austral haunts, and soon become plump again.
Many localities in Australia are admirably suited to the
turnstone’s needs, and it is not a rare bird with us,
indeed, on islands of the Great Barrier Reef, northeastern
Queensland, it may be termed a common species.

W. B. Alexander tells me that the turnstone is “a fairly common visitor to Australian coasts. My earliest record is of a pair seen on the beach at Oyster Cay, Great Barrier Reef, North Queensland, on August 27, 1925, and my latest record a pair on the estuary of the Lost River on the south coast of Western Australia on April 25, 1914.”

DISTRIBUTION

ARENARIA INTERPRES INTERPRES

_Range._--Mainly in the Eastern Hemisphere.

_Breeding range._--The turnstone breeds on the Arctic coasts of both hemispheres, but its exact status in North America is still somewhat indefinite. The known breeding range extends from probably Greenland (Disco Bay, Tuctoo Valley, and Bowdoin Bay); east to Iceland; Norway (Smolen Islands); Sweden; Lapland; Finland; Nova Zembla; Siberia (Balagansk, and Plover Bay); Kamchatka; probably the Commander Islands; and Alaska (St. Lawrence Island, St. Michaels, Takshagemut, Port Clarence, probably Cape Lowenstern and Point Barrow).

_Winter range._--In winter the turnstone is found on the coasts of Europe and Asia north to the British Isles; Japan and Hawaii. They range south at this season to South Africa (Cape of Good Hope); Madagascar; the Mascarene Islands; Australia; New Zealand; and Chile.

_Migration._--In North America, early dates of spring arrival are: Alaska, St. Michael, May 15; and Greenland, north of latitude 81° 30´, May 27. Late dates of fall departure are Greenland, north of latitude 81° 31´, September 11; and Alaska, Nushagak, September 21.

_Casual record._--The turnstone can be considered only as a casual or accidental visitant anywhere in North America south of the breeding grounds. A specimen taken at Pacific Beach, California, September 8, 1904, was identified as the European race, but the record also has been questioned (Grinnell). Four specimens taken on San Geronimo Island, Lower California, March 15, 1897, were considered by Oberholser as typical of the European or Asiatic race. One was obtained at Monomoy Island, Massachusetts on September 8, 1892 (Bishop); and Wayne took a specimen on Dewees Island, South Carolina, May 30, 1918.

[AUTHOR’S NOTE.--For the author’s views on the distribution of the two forms of the turnstone, see his note on the distribution of _morinella_. There is much individual variation in color, with a decided sexual difference in size, which opens the question of wrongly sexed specimens. The individual variation in size is still greater, so much so that both extremes of both forms are very close together. A large, dark female of _morinella_, wrongly sexed, might easily be recorded as _interpres_. These facts cast some doubt on North American records of _interpres_.]

_Egg dates._--Norway and Sweden: 16 records, June 1 to 30; 8 records, June 7 to 13. Lapland and Finland: 14 records, May 23 to July 8; 7 records, June 8 to 18.

ARENARIA INTERPRES MORINELLA

_Range._--North America; Central America; islands of the Caribbean Sea; and South America.

_Breeding range._--Actual breeding records of the ruddy turnstone are not numerous, so it is difficult to accurately define its breeding range. From information available it appears that they breed east from Alaska (Hooper Bay, Colville River Delta, Collinson Point, and probably Demarcation Point); to Mackenzie (lower Anderson River, Liverpool Bay, Franklin Bay, and probably Felix Harbor); Franklin (probably Melville Island, Victoria Island, probably King Oscar Land); probably Ellesmere and Grant Lands; and northwestern Greenland. Specimens have been obtained in southern Mackenzie in June (Fort Resolution and Fort Rae), but there is not yet any evidence of their breeding in that region. Eggs also have been reported from “Hudson Bay” (Reinecke), but the record is too indefinite to stand careful scrutiny.

Nonbreeding individuals have been detected in summer as far south as Chile (Sclater); Peru (Callao); the Galapagos Islands (Baur and Adams); Venezuela (Margarita and Aruba Islands); and the West Indies (Carriacou and Jamaica). It also has been noted at this season on the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts of the United States, as Florida (Bradentown, Passage Key, Fort De Soto, Key West, and Daytona Beach); South Carolina (Frogmore, and Mount Pleasant); North Carolina (Beaufort); Virginia (Hog Island, and Cape Charles); New York (Fair Haven Light, Long Beach, and Gardiners Island); Massachusetts (Monomoy Island, and Cape Cod); Louisiana (Chandeleur Islands, and Breton Islands); Texas (Fort Brown, and Corpus Christi); and California (Santa Cruz).

_Winter range._--The winter range of _morinella_ can be defined but little better as the records are frequently confused with _Arenaria i. interpres_, to which some of the following may refer. Their range at this season appears to extend north to California (rarely San Francisco Bay); Texas (Fort Brown, Point Isabel, Refugio County, and the Sabine River); probably Louisiana; probably North Carolina (Fort Macon); and Bermuda (Ireland Island). East to Bermuda (Ireland Island); South Carolina (Mount Pleasant, and Frogmore); Georgia (Savannah, Blackbeard Island, and Darien); Florida (Fernandina, St. Augustine, Daytona Beach, Mosquito Inlet, Cocoa, Fort Pierce, and Key West); the Bahama Islands (New Providence, and Great Inagua); Haiti (Monte Cristi, and Samana); Porto Rico (Mameyes, and Culebra Island); Lesser Antilles (Sombrero, St. Bartholomew, Carriacou, and Tobago); British Guiana (probably Abary River); French Guiana (probably Cayenne); and Brazil (Para, Cajetuba Island, Fernando Noronha, and Abrolhos Island). South to Brazil (Abrolhos Island); and Chile (Valdivia). West to Chile (Valdivia, Talcahuano, Paposo, and Atacama); Peru (probably Chorillos); the Galapagos Islands (Albemarle, Hood, Indefatigable and Bindloe Islands); Honduras (Swan Island); Guatemala (Chiapam); Mexico (the Valley of Mexico); Lower California (San Jose del Cabo, and Magdalena Bay); and California (rarely San Francisco Bay). Occasionally also, wintering as far north as Sanak, Alaska (Littlejohn).

_Spring migration._--Early dates of spring arrival are: Virginia, Accomac County, May 8, Chesapeake, May 10, and Locustville, May 11; New Jersey, Ocean City, May 5, Cape May, May 6, and Long Beach, May 16; New York, Fair Haven Light, May 10, Montauk Point, May 12, and Canandaigua, May 14; Connecticut, New Haven, May 18, and Norwalk, May 19; Rhode Island, Newport, May 13, and Sachuest Point, May 14; Massachusetts, Nantucket, May 1, Woods Hole, May 5, and Monomoy Island, May 6; Maine, South Harpswell, May 20, and Portland, May 22; Nova Scotia, Pictou, May 24; Franklin, Winter Island, June 10; Illinois, Northeastern, April 30, Englewood, May 22, Chicago, May 23, and Waukegan, May 24; Indiana, Starke County, May 20, and Wolfe Lake, May 23; Ohio, Lakeside, May 11, Oberlin, May 15, Huron, May 17, and Painesville, May 28; Michigan, Detroit, May 13, Kalamazoo County, May 20, and Ann Arbor, May 25; Ontario, Toronto, May 18, Kingston, May 20, Moose Factory, May 26, and Mitchells Bay, May 31; Nebraska, Lincoln, May 18; Iowa, Burlington, May 21; Minnesota, Lake Ann, May 20, Minneapolis, May 21, and Walker, May 24; Wisconsin, Madison, May 22; South Dakota, Coteau des Prairies, May 26, and Fort Sisseton, May 27; Manitoba, Shoal Lake, May 25; Saskatchewan, Île à la Crosse, May 22, and Orestwynd, May 23; Alberta, Tofield, May 15, and Fort Chipewyan, May 25; Mackenzie, Fort Simpson, May 29; California, San Nicolas Island, April 7; Oregon, Mercer, May 14; Washington, Puget Sound, May 6, Willapa Harbor, May 11, and Shoalwater Bay, May 17; and Alaska, Unalaska, May 19, and Nulato, May 23.

Late dates of spring departures are: Peru, Mathews Island, April 24; Porto Rico, Culebrita Island, April 15; Bahama Islands, Andros, April 26, and Green Cay, April 29; Florida, Punta Rassa, May 13, St. Marks, May 22, and Daytona Beach, May 24; Georgia, Savannah, May 29; South Carolina, Egg Bank, May 14, and Mount Pleasant, June 12; North Carolina, Churchs Island, May 19, and Cape Hatteras, May 20; Virginia, Wachapreague, May 24, Hog Island, May 19, and Smiths Island, May 31; Pennsylvania, Warren, May 30, and Erie, June 2; New Jersey, Camden, May 21, and Cape May County, June 3; New York, Ithaca, June 13, Montauk Point, June 9, and Orient, June 12; Connecticut, Fairfield, May 29, Westport, May 30, and Norwalk, June 1; Massachusetts, Dennis, June 2, Marthas Vineyard, June 8, and Monomoy Island, June 8; Illinois, Chicago, June 9, Northeastern, June 18; Indiana, Wolfe Lake, June 9; Ohio, Huron, June 3, Oberlin, June 5, and Lakeside, June 5; Michigan, Detroit, June 6, and Charity Island, June 15; Ontario, Toronto, June 17; North Dakota, Devils Lake, June 11; South Dakota, Vermilion, May 30; Texas, Point Isabel, May 14; Minnesota, Cass Lake, May 30; Wisconsin, De Pere, June 3; Manitoba, Dog Point, June 7, Lake Winnipeg, June 10, and Shoal Lake, June 12; Saskatchewan, Indian Head, June 2, and Churchill River, June 9; California, Santa Barbara, May 6, Farallon Islands, May 7, and San Nicolas Island, May 11; Oregon, Mercer, May 14; and Washington, Willapa Harbor, May 16.

_Fall migration._--Early dates of fall arrival are: Washington, Destruction Island, July 17; California, Monterey Bay, July 18, and Santa Barbara, July 26; Lower California, San Jose del Cabo, August 31; Oaxaca, San Mateo, August 9; Saskatchewan, Quill Lake, August 7, Bigstick Lake, August 9, and Crane Lake, August 11; Manitoba, Fort Churchill, July 30, Shoal Lake, August 7, and Oak Lake, August 8; Texas, Rockport, August 12; Ontario, Toronto, July 30, and Point Pelee, August 14; Michigan, Charity Island, August 6; Ohio, Pelee Island, July 24, Huron, August 3, and Lakeside, August 8; Indiana, Millers, August 8; Illinois, Chicago, July 20, and La Grange, August 13; Maine, Portland, July 28; Massachusetts, Marthas Vineyard, July 24, Harvard, July 26, and Monomoy Island, July 27; Rhode Island, Island of Rhode Island, July 26, and Kingston, August 11; Connecticut, Meriden, August 8; New York, Montauk Point, July 18, Orient, July 28, and Shelter Island, July 29; New Jersey, Cape May, July 16; Virginia, Cobb Island, August 1, and Locustville, August 7; North Carolina, Pea Island, August 11; Bermuda, Coopers Island, July 27; South Carolina, Mount Pleasant, July 15; Georgia, Savannah, August 18; Florida, Palma Sola, July 26, St. Marks, July 30, Pensacola, August 1, and Daytona, August 10; Bahama Islands, Mariguana, August 5; Jamaica, Spanishtown, August 13; Lesser Antilles, Barbados, August 22, and St. Croix, September 8; Peru, Payta, September 20; and Chile, Talcahuano, September 9.

Late dates of fall departure are: Alaska, St. Michael, September 8; British Columbia, Graham Island, September 5; Washington, Simiahmoo, October 3; California, Alameda, October 15; Manitoba, Oak Lake, September 9; Wisconsin, Sheboygan, September 1; Ontario, Point Pelee, September 15, and Toronto, September 16; Michigan, Bay City, September 4, and Detroit, September 5; Ohio, Huron, October 18, Lakeside, October 21, and New Bremen, October 23; Illinois, Chicago, October 13; Franklin, Harrowby Bay, August 30, Newfoundland, September 5; Nova Scotia, La Have Ridges, September 27; New Brunswick, Grand Manan, September 4, and Tabusintoc, October 23; Quebec, Green Island, October 26; Massachusetts, North Truro, October 9, Woods Hole, October 20, and (exceptional) Dennis, November 3; Rhode Island, Point Judith, September 14, and Newport, October 8; New York, Canandaigua, September 16, Brockport, October 6, and Orient, October 7.

_Casual records._--The ruddy turnstone is not now common anywhere in the Mississippi Valley and has been recorded on but few occasions in the lower part of this region and in the States west to the Rocky Mountains. Among these last are, Arkansas, reported at Osceola by Doctor Richardson (Howell); Missouri, St. Louis, September 7, 1897; Kansas, Kansas River, August 16, 1898, and Greenwood County, October 1, 1911; Colorado, Denver, April 26, 1890, and May 18, 1900, and Barr, September 9, 1907; and Wyoming, Yellowstone Park, August 30, 1922.

[AUTHOR’S NOTE.--The above is the generally accepted theory as to the distribution of the two forms of the turnstone. The author has examined a few specimens from Iceland and East Greenland and a large number from Alaska and various islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Iceland birds are nearer _interpres_; the East Greenland birds are less typical of _interpres_, with a more decided tendency toward _morinella_; no West Greenland birds have been examined and perhaps they might be nearer _morinella_; Alaska and Hawaiian Island birds, as well as those from Polynesia, are much nearer _morinella_. Apparently the range of _morinella_ should be extended eastward to western Greenland, and westward to Bering Strait and to the Pacific islands. Both color and size have been taken into account in this study.]

_Egg dates._--Bering Sea coast of Alaska: 10 records, May 29 to June 27. Arctic coasts of Alaska and Canada: 19 records, June 19 to August 1; 10 records, June 28 to July 21.

ARENARIA MELANOCEPHALA (Vigors)

BLACK TURNSTONE

HABITS

The black turnstone replaces to a large extent on the Pacific coast our well-known ruddy turnstone; both species are found there on migrations and in winter, but the black is the commoner on that coast, to which it is restricted. It is a characteristic bird of the barnacle-covered reefs and rocky shores, being more often seen on the outlying islands and ledges than on the mainland. There it lives at the water’s edge, seeking its food within reach of the waves and often drenched with ocean spray. As it stands motionless it is almost invisible in its coat of dark brown and might easily be mistaken for a knob of rock or a bunch of seaweed; but when startled into flight its conspicuous pattern of black and white flashes out a distinctive mark of recognition.

_Spring._--The black turnstone starts on its northward migration from the coast of California early in April. Much of the flight is over the ocean, as the following observation by Austin H. Clark (1910) shows:

On the first day out of San Francisco, May 4, we saw
several small flocks of these birds on their way north;
each succeeding day they became more abundant until on the
afternoon of May 8 we saw them by thousands, in flocks of
from 10 or 20 to several hundred. At one time, about 2
o’clock in the afternoon, the whole sea appeared dotted
with white, so abundant were they. All the birds noticed
were headed up the coast, going the same direction as we.

In the mornings these birds were comparatively rare; they
began to appear about 11 o’clock, and increased in numbers
until about 2, when they were very abundant; shortly after
3 there was a falling off until by half past 4 few, if any,
were to be seen. This was true every day we were at sea on
the voyage from San Francisco to Puget Sound. Whether they
spent the night and early morning on the neighboring shores
or resting on the water I am unable to say; but all we saw
were on the wing; possibly there were other shore birds in
these multitudes, but all which came near the ship were of
this species.

Lucien M. Turner (1886) says that this is one of the earliest arrivals at St. Michael. His earliest date is May 13. “It arrives with the earlier geese, and for the first few weeks frequents the edges of the low ponds, which are the first to be freed from the ice in spring. After the sea ice has left the shores it repairs to the rocky beach and seeks its food among the stones and seaweeds.” H. B. Conover says, in his notes from Hooper Bay: “The first of these birds were noted on May 16, when two were taken as they flew by a small snow-water pond on the tundra. Two days later this species was very common. Next to the western sandpiper it was probably the commonest, as well as the noisiest, wader nesting on the tundra.”

_Courtship._--Herbert W. Brandt, who has studied this species on its breeding grounds at Hooper Bay, Alaska, says in his notes:

The black turnstones, like many of the other shore birds
during the mating season, spend considerable time chasing
each other about. The female seems to say to the male,
“catch me if you can,” and then dashes off with such speed
that the pursuer has difficulty in following her, and she
usually returns to the same spot from which her zigzag
flight began. Often the male will mount high into the air
alone, until completely out of sight, and then will produce
with his wing or tail feathers, which of the two I have
not been able to determine, the same strange _zum-zum-zum_
noise as made by the Wilson snipe. Before the nesting
season this feather music could be heard on the flats at
any time, and it deceived me at first, as I mistook it for
that of the snipe. Later, however, as soon as the nesting
duties began, it seemed to cease; and in this respect, the
black turnstone differs from the Wilson snipe, because the
feather music of the latter is continued throughout the
incubation period.

_Nesting._--The same observer describes the nesting habits as follows:

The fantastic shaped shore lines of the lowland brackish
ponds furnish ideal homesites for the vivacious black
turnstone as it usually chooses, upon which to nest, a
little projecting grass-covered point or islet. Quite near
the water’s edge the bird will hollow a depression in the
flattened dead grass and here, often upon the almost bare
mud with the eternal ice strata only a few inches beneath,
the hardy mother will successfully bring forth a brood.
Little effort is made to build a home and the only material
therein is the grass that previously grew on or about the
site and is flattened down into the basin of the nest. At
times there is almost no lining beneath the olive-hued eggs
and they are then so besmeared that they appear to have
been deliberately rolled in the mud. Occasionally, however,
the bird will nest some distance away from the water on a
dry site, but always the mode of construction is the same.
The range of measurements of 27 nests is: diameter of basin
3½ to 4½ inches and depth 1 to 2½ inches. The undecked
nests are easy to find if bordering the pools, provided
their general location is known, but the birds keep up such
a continual clamor that it is difficult to guess their
chosen area. In favored places they breed in such close
proximity to one another that they appear to colonize.
In no case like the other Charadriidae did I observe
these birds about the nest to feign lameness or distress.
Incubation spots were found on both of the parents.

_Eggs._--I can not do better than to quote Mr. Brandt’s description of the eggs, as follows:

The eggs of the black turnstone, invariably four to the
nest, are subpyriform to ovate pyriform in shape, and
unlike the glossy egg of the ruddy turnstone, reflect but
little luster. Due to the flatness of the nest, the eggs,
while they usually rest points together, do not stand as
erect while being brooded as eggs of the sandpipers. The
texture of the surface is smooth and the eggs are not at
all fragile. The eggs of the present species are unique
among the eggs of the shore birds at Hooper Bay in that
the ground color, the surface markings and the underlying
spots are in the same category of colors which are the
olive hues, but each is a different shade. The olive of
the ground color is tinged with yellowish; the surface
markings are much darker, favoring the browns, while the
feeble underlying spots are of a shade between the two. In
consequence, the spots while fairly distinctive and seldom
confluent, are not prominent, the entire egg being of an
olive-like cast. The common type of ground color is “light
yellowish olive” to “yellowish olive,” but “buffy olive” is
not rare and some are even “Vetiver green.” The small end
is often several shades lighter than the rest of the egg,
but in a large series of specimens the ground color is very
similar. The surface markings are very constant in color,
ranging from “light yellowish olive” to “olive.” These
spots are angular and fantastical and often inclined to be
streaked or faintly smeared and are not at all bold. They
are numerous, often almost obliterating the ground color,
and are densest about the larger end. The underlying spots
are very shadowy and often almost invisible and are shades
of “olive gray.” On the large end of every egg there are
scattered additional markings of brownish black in the form
of small spots and pen-like streaks. In color and style
of markings the eggs of the black turnstone, when fresh,
resemble a common olive type of the American crow, but even
these greenish colors fade considerably in time.

The measurements of 130 eggs average 40.9 by 28.8 millimeters; the eggs showing the four extremes measure =46= by 29.5, 41 by =30.5=, =38= by 28, and 40.7 by =27.8= millimeters.

_Young._--Mr. Conover says, in his notes, that “both male and female take care of the young.” He obtained some data which seems to show that the eggs hatch in from 21 to 22 days. A nest was found on May 31 with four fresh eggs; in the evening of June 21 this nest contained three young, already dry, and one pipped egg; the next morning the last egg had hatched. Another nest was found on May 31 with three eggs; the next day there were four eggs; at noon on June 22 the eggs had not hatched; but at 4 p. m. the next day the nest was empty and the young had disappeared from the vicinity.

Mr. Brandt says in his notes:

We enjoyed the pleasure of seeing the downy young for
the first time on June 21, and were greatly interested
in them, as they had not been described or figured. They
are born from the egg 21 days after incubation begins,
and the mottled chick, like other shore birds, leaves its
nest at once. The downy young have a remarkably protective
coloration, and, furthermore, are distinguishable from any
of their relatives.

Dr. E. W. Nelson (1887) says that--

when the young are able to take wing in July they leave the
flats, to a great extent, and frequent the seacoast, where
they keep in small straggling parties searching for food
along the tide line.

_Plumages._--I have never seen a young black turnstone in natal down, but Mr. Conover describes it very well, as follows:

Above mottled black and “cream buff,” the black strongly
predominating. Line from base of bill extending over and to
the center of the eye “cream buff.” Distinct loral streak
of black from base of bill to eye. (Some specimens also
have below this loral stripe a black spot at base of lower
mandible). Lower breast, abdomen and a very small area on
chin clear white. Upper throat “cream buff.” Neck and upper
breast mixed black and “cream buff,” but without distinct
mottling. Bill dark horn, iris brown, legs and feet light
horn with fleshy tint. Compared with absolutely identified
newly hatched chicks of _A. i. morinella_, downy young of
this species have a much darker appearance. On the upper
parts the buffy colors are more in the form of specklings,
while in _morinella_ these colors are more blotch-like.
_Melanocephala_ also has a very distinct dark band across
the chest, while in the other species this band is very
faintly indicated.

In fresh juvenal plumage, in July, the head, neck, chest, back, scapulars and wing coverts are dull, blackish brown, or “sepia,” with an olive gloss; the feathers of the mantle are narrowly edged with “pinkish buff”; the scapulars are more broadly edged with the same; the median wing coverts are tipped and their white edges are tinged with the same; and the tail feathers are tipped or tinged with the same color. These buffy edgings have mostly worn away or faded out to dull white before the birds migrate. Probably a partial postjuvenal molt in the fall produces a first winter plumage, which is like the adult, except that some of the juvenal wing coverts and a few scapulars are retained. A first nuptial plumage appears in a young bird, collected on March 17, which is beginning to acquire the white spots of the nuptial plumage on the head and breast, but still has some old, worn, juvenal scapulars and wing coverts. The young bird evidently acquires the adult winter plumage at the first postnuptial molt the following summer.

Adults have a partial prenuptial molt of the body plumage in March and April and a complete postnuptial molt in August and September. The adult nuptial plumage is characterized by the white lores, the small white spots on the forehead, and the larger white spots on the sides of the head, neck and chest; otherwise it is like the winter plumage, though the latter is somewhat lighter brown on the throat and chest.

_Food._--The food of the black turnstone has evidently not been carefully analyzed, but it apparently consists of small marine animals such as barnacles, slugs, small mollusks, and crustaceans, such as are eaten by surf birds and other turnstones. Grinnell, Bryant, and Storer (1918) mentioned one, taken in Alaska in May, that had been feeding on heath berries. They quote Bradford Torrey (1913), as to the method of feeding, as follows:

They were feeding in three ways. Sometimes they followed
the receding breaker, gleaning from the surface, as it
seemed, such edibles as it had washed in. Mostly, however,
they busied themselves upon the wet sand just above the
last reach of the falling tide.

Once they found a place where the shrimps or prawns were
evidently more plentiful than elsewhere, and it was amusing
to see how eagerly they worked, each determined to get its
full share of the plunder. Thrusting their short, stout
bills into the sand, they drew out their squirming prey,
dropped it on the sand, picked it up and shook it, and
dropped it again, till finally they had it in condition
for swallowing. These manoeuvers they repeated, all in
desperate competitive haste, till the beach within a
circle of a few feet in circumference was thickly dotted
with minute hillocks of sand, such as I should never have
attributed to the work of any bird, had it not been done
before my eyes. Then the supply seemed to be exhausted, and
they moved on in search of another bonanza.

At other times they resorted to patches of seaweed lying
here and there a little higher on the beach, turning
them bottom side up, or brushing them aside, to feast on
such small game as had taken shelter underneath. Their
action here was like that of a dog when he buries a bone
by pushing the earth over it with his nose. They lowered
their heads, and with more or less effort according to
circumstances accomplished their purpose. If the obstacle
proved too heavy to be moved in this manner, they drew
back a little and made a run at it as men do in using
a battering-ram. More than once I saw them gaining the
needed momentum by this means. They quarrelled now and then
over the business, and once two of them faced each other,
bill to bill, like gamecocks--a most unusual proceeding
among waders, firing off little fusilades of exclamations
meanwhile. The turnstones’ disagreements were of the
briefest, however, slight ebullitions of temper rather than
any actual belligerency.

_Behavior._--S. F. Rathbun has sent me the following notes on the behavior of this species:

The tide was just turning from flood, the time being about
3 p. m. On the rocks of the jetty whose top at the edge of
the beach was just above the water’s surface and at times
submerged by incoming waves, was a small flock of black
turnstones numbering about 30. At first the birds would not
allow a close approach but as we slowly neared them would
take wing and, then coming together in close formation,
circle in unison, rising and falling, close to the water’s
surface to soon return and alight on the tops of the nearly
submerged rocks. It was a beautiful sight to see them in
flight as then the black and white of their plumage was
strongly in contrast. After a short time the birds allowed
a much closer approach for on one occasion we stood within
20 feet of the flock. As the tide receded much more of the
surface of the rocks became exposed, although at times
the waves dashed completely over them, and whenever this
occurred it forced the turnstones to take wing. Sometimes
one of the birds would be caught by an incoming wave and
would then emerge in flight from the water, scattering the
spray in all directions. But the rapid recession of the
tide soon gave plenty of ground to search for food and in
this all the birds became busily engaged. Some of the birds
while so doing would climb the very abrupt surface of the
rocks, clinging to the moss, which adhered, while examining
with their bills the crevices of the rocks and also the
moss for crustaceans and minute molluscs. At times one or
more would rest on the side of a rock in perfect repose and
evidence that a few were paired was seen by the fact that
two often persisted in remaining in company.

One thing proved somewhat amusing to us, that although
during the time the birds had been feeding they were
repeatedly drenched by spray from the waves striking the
rocks, when they finally ceased to feed a few at odd times
would drop into the shallow water at the base of the rocks
to bathe by dashing it over themselves, following which
they would dabble about.

Mr. Brandt says in his notes:

Among the shore birds breeding along the coast of Bering
Sea there is none more interesting and fascinating than
this black and white turnstone. When the mud about the
edges of the ponds and tidal sloughs begins to soften,
and the accumulated snow water starts to move, this bird
appears enlivening the bleak, cheerless marshes with its
loud-toned cries and butterfly-like appearance. In the
lowland area it is the commonest shore bird, and its
contrastive black and white figure is doubly conspicuous,
because it resents intrusion of its haunts and sallies
forth to meet the approaching stranger; whereas the rest
of the shore-bird tribe found there either skulk away
or exhibit indifference. As the Pacific godwit is the
self-appointed guardian of the upland tundra, so the black
turnstone patrols the lowlands, often to the dismay of the
hunter or the irritation of the ornithologist. In spite
of its chunky body and comparatively short wings, it is
gifted with elegance and swiftness of flight. It does
not, like the phalarope, afford an inviting target for
the young native hunters, because not only does it scold
on the wing, but it also moves so nervously while on the
ground that it is not quiet there even for a fraction of a
second. No doubt the hunting jaegers consider it the pest
of the flats, for while passing through its domain, these
freebooters are usually being annoyingly followed by one or
more of these fiery and courageous defenders.

Mr. Turner (1886) says that--

The sea-otter hunters, both native and white, detest this
bird, as it frequents the places most resorted to by marine
mammals and is certain to give alarm to the otter or seal
which the hunter is endeavoring to approach.

_Voice._--Doctor Nelson (1887) says: “It has a habit of circling around the intruder, during the nesting season, with a fine, clear, peeping cry like the syllables _weet, weet too-weet_, as it moves restlessly about. When disturbed in the vicinity of its nest it also has a sharp _peet, weet, weet_, very similar to the well known note of the spotted sandpiper.” Mr. Turner (1886) says that when alarmed and “taking flight they utter a rattling scream” which is quite startling.

_Field marks._--When standing the black turnstone may be recognized by its uniformly dark head, neck, and chest, above a white belly; it lacks the white throat of the turnstone, and its upper parts appear all dark. But when flying it shows white patches quite similar to those of the turnstone, a patch in the center of the back, the base of the tail, a stripe in the scapulars and a broad band across the wings; there is rather more white in the wing than in the turnstone and the black tips extend along only the outer half of the wing; the surf bird has a much narrower white stripe in the wing.

_Fall._--Doctor Nelson (1887) says, of the departure of these birds from Alaska: “In autumn they move gradually to the southward, until by the last of August they become rarer, and during the first half of September all have gone with the exception of an occasional straggler found along the seashore.” The migration extends down the coast as far as Lower California.

_Winter._--Carl Lien regards them as common winter residents on Destruction Island, off the coast of Washington. He says, in his notes that they “begin to arrive about July 26 and leave in the spring the first week in May. They confine themselves entirely to the reefs and are very sociable, keeping up a continual chatter. The Aleutian sandpiper and a surf bird or two will nearly always be found among them. About 75 or 100 birds winter here.”

A. B. Howell (1917), referring to the islands off the coast of southern California, says that “this is by far the most abundant shore bird on the islands, much more so than on the mainland, occurring in flocks of as many as 30 individuals, and frequenting the rockiest shores.”

DISTRIBUTION

_Range._--Pacific coast of North America, casual in northeastern Siberia.

_Breeding range._--So far as known, the black turnstone breeds only on the Alaskan coast, the breeding range appearing to extend from Chichagof Island on the south, north to probably Montague Island, Ugashik, Nushagak, Hooper Bay, the Yukon Valley, St. Michael, Cape Prince of Wales, and probably the Kobuk River.

At this season it also has been detected on Wrangel Island, and Herald Island (Nelson) but is not known to breed, while nonbreeders have been noted south on the coast at British Columbia, Skidegate; Oregon, Yaquina Bay; California, Farallon Islands, Monterey Bay, Point Pinos, and San Miguel Island; and Lower California, Los Coronados Islands.

_Winter range._--The winter range of the black turnstone extends north nearly to the breeding grounds and but little south of the southern limit of the nonbreeders. They have been noted in winter north rarely to Alaska (Craig and Howkan). Also in southern British Columbia (Victoria); Washington (Bellingham Bay, Smith Island, Dungeness, and Clallam Bay); Oregon (Yaquina Bay and Netarts Bay); California (Eureka, Tomales Bay, San Francisco, Monterey, San Miguel Island, Santa Cruz Island, San Pedro Bay, Santa Catalina Island, San Clemente Island, and San Diego County); and lower California (San Quintin Bay, probably San Geronimo Island, Magdalena Bay, and Santa Margarita Island).

_Migration._--Because of the presence of individuals throughout the year in practically the entire range of the species, migration data are not significant.

The following dates of spring arrival are, however, available: Alaska, Admiralty Island, April 17; Juneau, April 29; Forrester Island, May 6; Bethel, May 12; Craig, May 15; and Nulato, May 16. Dates of fall departure from Alaska are Nushagak, September 22; Homer, September 26; St. Lazaria Island, September 30; and Wrangel, November 4.

_Casual records._--On August 15, 1912, a flock of 20 was observed at Chaun Bay, northeastern Siberia (Thayer and Bangs). A specimen in the collection of the Philadelphia Academy of Sciences was presumed to have been obtained in India, but the occurrence has been challenged (Hartert) on the basis that proof is lacking that the specimen was actually there collected. The record accordingly is eliminated for lack of evidence.

_Egg dates._--Alaska: 96 records, May 28 to July 5; 48 records, May 31 to June 1.

Family HAEMATOPODIDAE Oyster catchers

HAEMATOPUS OSTRALEGUS Linnaeus

EUROPEAN OYSTER CATCHER

_Contributed by Francis Charles Robert Jourdain_

HABITS