474 GRALLATORES. 



animals on which they subsist. They swim with 

 great facihty and swiftness, and their flight is rapid 

 and elevated. 



In the Phalaropes the formation of the bill is 

 nearly the same as that of the Knot, but it is more 

 depressed throughout its length, and the tip comes 

 to a sharper and more determinate point. The 

 general contour of the body is also similar to that of 

 the Tringas, but the extensive development of the 

 web connecting and bordering the margins of the 

 toes, as well as the thick and closely-set plumage of 

 the under parts of the body, indicate more aquatic 

 habits ; and accordingly we find that these birds are 

 often seen upon the surface of the ocean, even in 

 the midst of the roughest waves. Their plumage is 

 thick and closely set, and the toes, besides being 

 united together at the base by a web^ are bordered 

 by a continuation of that membrane, so as to make 

 the feet efficient paddles, although they are equally 

 adapted for progression on dry land ; so that these 

 are birds of varied accomplishments, flying rapidly 

 like the Snipes, running after the fashion of the 

 Sandpipers, and swimming with the facility of 

 Ducks. Their usual habitat is in the Arctic and 

 Northern Seas. During the breeding season they 

 repair to the coast, where they build a neat nest, 

 composed of grass and weeds, upon the sea-shore, 

 in some slight hollow on the ground. The eggs 

 are four in number. 



The type of this sub -family is — 



The Grey Phalarope, or Lobe-foot {PhalaropiLs hyper- 

 horeus). These birds are inhabitants of the north-eastern 

 ])arts of Europe and Northern Asia, where they are 

 numerous upon the large lakes and rivers of Siberia ; 

 they also abound in North America, but their range, 

 even during their migrations southward, does not seem 

 to extend far beyond the limits of the Arctic circle. In 

 their habits they are much more aquatic than the Tringas, 

 passing the greater part of their lives ujjon the water, 

 where they swim with great buoyancy and ease. But it 



