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.