Lexic.us

Definition of Turnstone

1. Noun. Migratory shorebirds of the plover family that turn over stones in searching for food.

Definition of Turnstone

1. n. Any species of limicoline birds of the genera Strepsilas and Arenaria, allied to the plovers, especially the common American and European species (Strepsilas interpres). They are so called from their habit of turning up small stones in search of mollusks and other aquatic animals. Called also brant bird, sand runner, sea quail, sea lark, sparkback, and skirlcrake.

Definition of Turnstone

1. Noun. Either of two species of coastal wading bird, ''Arenaria interpres'' and ''Arenaria melanocephala''. They breed in the Arctic and readily turn stones or seaweed looking for hidden invertebrates. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Turnstone

1. [n -S]

Medical Definition of Turnstone

1. Any species of limicoline birds of the genera Strepsilas and Arenaria, allied to the plovers, especially the common American and European species (Strepsilas interpres). They are so called from their habit of turning up small stones in search of mollusks and other aquatic animals. Called also brant bird, sand runner, sea quail, sea lark, sparkback, and skirlcrake. Black turnstone, the California turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala). The adult in summer is mostly black, except some white streaks on the chest and forehead, and two white loral spots. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Turnstone Pictures

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Lexicographical Neighbors of Turnstone

Literary usage of Turnstone

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Illustrations of British Ornithology by Prideaux John Selby (1833)
"Common turnstone, Shaw's ZooL 11. 520. pL 39—Flem. Br. Anim. 1. 110. ... B. I turnstone or Sea Dotterel, Petin. Br. ZooL 2. No. 199.—Lath. Syn. 5. V 190. ..."

2. Birds of California: An Introduction to More Than Three Hundred Common Birds by Irene Grosvenor Wheelock (1903)
"THE Black turnstone is common along the coast district of California throughout all ... Of these the Black turnstone is the only one met with frequently in ..."

3. Amid Snowy Wastes: Wild Life on the Spitsbergen Archipelago by Seton Paul Gordon (1922)
"The turnstone belongs to the same order as the plovers, and to the same family as the oyster-catcher. It is scarcely so big as the redshank, ..."

4. Coloured Illustrations of British Birds, and Their Eggs by Henry Leonard Meyer (1848)
"THE turnstone is a winter visitant in Great Britain, arriving on the sea-coast ... In respect of migration the turnstone differs greatly from the Oyster ..."

5. A History of British Birds by Thomas Bewick, Ralph Beilby, Henry Cotes (1816)
"... from Pennant and Latham's descriptions, simply in the feathers on the upper parts not being edged with black and pale rusty brown. THE turnstone. ..."

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