RED PHALAROPE, 237 



scientific northern navigators, on the 10th of June, in the 

 latitude of 68°, saw a company of these little daring voya- 

 gers out at sea, four miles from land, swimming at their 

 ease, amidst mountains of ice. They are seen also by 

 mariners between Asia and America, According to Mr. 

 Bullock, the Red Phalarope is found common in the 

 marshes of Sunda and Westra, the most northerly of the 

 Orkney Isles, where they pass the breeding season, and are 

 there sd" tame, and little alarmed by the destructive arts of 

 man, as to suffer the report of a gun without fear, so that 

 Mr, B. killed as many as nine of them without moving from 

 the spot where he made the first discharge. When seen 

 swimming in pools, it is continually dipping the bill into the 

 water, as if feeding on some minute insects, and while thus 

 engaged it will often allow of a very near approach. When 

 disturbed they fly out a short distance only, like the Dunlins. 

 Sometimes, though rarely, they are seen to approach the 

 shore or the land in quest of food, but their proper element 

 is the water, and more particularly that of the sea or saline 

 pools. 



The Flat-Billed Phalarope breeds around Hudson's Bay 

 in the month of June, soon after their arrival from their 

 tropical winter quarters ; for this purpose, they select some 

 dry and grassy spot, wherein they lay about 4 eggs of an 

 oil-green color, crowded with irregular spots of dark umber- 

 brown, which become confluent towards the obtuse end. 

 The young take to wing in July, or early in August, and 

 they leave the inclement shores of their nativity in the 

 month of September. At this period, as well as in the 

 spring, a few stragglers visit the United States, where they 

 have been occasionally shot in the vicinity of Philadelphia 

 and Boston. These and other species are also seen, in thie 

 autumn, about Vera Cruz, where they are sold with other 

 game, in the market. Their visits in England and Ger- 



