TURNSTONE.
STREPSILJ8 INTERPRES.
AT one season or another this species is Mattered over every suitable portion of our new I Ilia I with which
I am acquainted : for Ihe most part it I Mints to mudhauks and sandy flats as well as low-lying reefs of
weed-grown nteks; occasionally, however, I have met with a few lords about the grassy hills round the
Norfolk broads and at other inland waters.
Though Turnstones arc not generally allowed to nest in the British Islands, many of these birds pass
the summer along our north-east coast, ladug especially numerous on the shores of the Firth of Forth
between Cauty Hay and Dunbar, a few also may be seen at this season on the Fern Islands. In order
to examine the stab' of their plumage, 1 have on two or three occasions shot a few of these late-slaying
birds, and invariably discovered that although in what might he styled lull summer dress they were never
so perfect in colour as those that pass along the coast in May when on their way lo the remote breedinggrounds
in the far north. Flocks of many of the various species of Waders that frequent our coasts,
marshes, and mudflats may also be met with nil through the summer; these, I am of opiuiun, ore juveniles
that have not yet attained the age nt which they pair and nest. Judging from observations made in manyparts
of the country, I consider it is improbable that birds of this species breed before the third or
fourth year.
The Turnstones that arrive in spring usually appear in small parties of from six or eight up lo double
that number; it is seldom that Hocks consisting of above thirty or forty are met with at any season,
though a few inslances where these birds were densely packed have come under my notice. In May ls.7:i
nt least a couple of hundred, in the very linest plumage, settled on the "lumps" towards Ihe east end
of Hroydon mudflats, where, driven together by the flowing tide, they offered a chance for the punt-gun
that must, if taken, have resulted iu the death of almost the whole body. Not needing specimens, I
watched their actions for some time while crowding still closer, at the distance of only forty or fifty yards,
greatly to the disgust of my punt-man, who was anxious to see the effect of a shot. The largest gathering
1 ever observed wns nt the Little Ferry near Golspie in Sutherland, where, iu March 18(11), at least five
bundled swept round the punt and sotllcd on one of the mussel-scarps near the main channel, Tho
whole of these birds exhibited the dingy plumage of the immature slate, with dull yellow legs nnd feet;
being able tu examine their ranks carefully, I did not need to molest them, this species being utterly
tiseless as an article of food. Throughout June aud July 1slt7 at least fifty or sixty of Ihese birds
remained in company on the rocks on which tho beacon stands in front of Seaelilf on the Firth or Forth.
Since that date, when visiting ibis part or the coast, I usually met with small parties of ten or a dor.cn,
though never again observing them in such numbers; here they occasionally associate with the l'urple
Kandpi|M'rs resorting to the same ledges of rock
When undisturbed, Ibis species for the most part permits a near approach till constant persecution