RED-NECKED PHALAROPE. II9 



have two white stripes on their darker backs. They are 

 cared for by the cock bird, though the hen will mount guard 

 and warn him to slip off the nest if danger threatens, when he 

 will join her on the water and pretend to feed (End paper i). 

 The nestlings, with large fleshy legs and flesh-tinted bills, can 

 swim at once, though Mr. Bahr found some drowned. Mr. 

 H. S. Gladstone, who visited the Irish colony and noticed its 

 rapid growth from year to year so long as it was well protected 

 and its position kept secret, has some strong things to say 

 about the selfishness of collectors. Two well-known ornitholo- 

 gists (if they deserve the title) visited the place, illegally shot 

 two birds, and took, so he heard, forty eggs. Nothing can 

 justify such wholesale robbery, and it has, unfortunately, not 

 ended with the one deed, for the natives have learnt that there 

 is value in the eggs. 



In summer the adult bird has the head, lower neck, and 

 most of the upper parts slate-grey, darkest on the back where 

 there are buff edges to some of the feathers. The chin, eye- 

 spot, and abdomen are white, and on the neck, extending to 

 the lower part of the face, is a rich chestnut band. The bill is 

 almost black, the legs greenish, yellower on the feet, and the 

 irides brown. The male is duller than the female, and in both 

 sexes there is considerable variation in the white on the chin 

 and chestnut on the gorget. The autumn moult is gradual, 

 and when the winter dress is complete the sexes are difficult to 

 distinguish. The forehead, cheeks, throat, and breast are then 

 v.'hice. The back of the head and eye-streak are dark brown, 

 and the upper parts greyish marked with white and buff. The 

 backs and wings of young birds are warmer — more buff and 

 chestnut — than in old birds in winter dress. Length, 7*5 ins. 

 Wing, 4" 4 ias. Tarsus, o*8 in. 



