234 



LOBE-FOOTED BIRDS. 



the longest. Tail short, of 12 feathers, with the under coverts ex- 

 tending to its extremity. 



The head is small, wholly feathered, and compressed at the sides, 

 but rounded above ; the neck is also well proportioned, and the body 

 roundish. The female differs a little from the male, and is larger, 

 and more elegantly feathered. The young differ much from the 

 adult in plumage, and also vary according to age. They moult 

 twice in the year, changing their colors at these periods as much 

 as the Sandpipers. The plumage is close, dense, and very downy at 

 base, quite impermeable to the access of water. The colors in sum- 

 mer brownish and rufous ; changing in winter to grey and white. 



These elegant and diminutive birds are essentially aquatic, not- 

 withstanding their obvious relation to the Sandpipers. They glide 

 over the water with admirable ease and swiftness, are the smallest 

 of swimming birds ; resisting the heaviest waves, like Petrels, they 

 not only inhabit lakes and limited waters, but also go out fearlessly 

 to sea; their extreme buoyancy, deprives them of the ability to 

 dive. They are scarcely ever seen on the ground, where, how- 

 ever, they walk and run quickly. They are by no means shy, 

 or often conscious of danger ; live in small flocks on" sea coasts, 

 preferring salt and brackish to fresh waters, on which they are but 

 rarely seen. They fly with ease and elegance ; and feed upon aquatic 

 insects and molusca, which they collect on the surface of the waves, 

 or by the water side. They associate by pairs ; nesting on shore, 

 on the grassy borders of pools and lakes, or in the contiguous savan- 

 nahs ; the eggs are from 4 to 6, on which both sexes incubate, as 

 well as take charge of the young; the brood, however, run about 

 and swim as soon as they are hatched. The flesh is said to be oily and 

 disagreeable, but in young birds of the Hyperborean Phalarope, we 

 have found it altogether similar in flavor with that of the smaller 

 Tringcc. They inhabit the Arctic seas, from whence they migrate, 

 at the approach of winter, into the temperate regions of either con- 

 tinent. The genus, as yet, consists of but 4 species, all found in 

 America, and two of them are also common to Europe. The Pha- 

 laropes seem to form a link of connexion between the waders and 

 web-footed tribes 



